Famous firesides of French Canada

/2

Hearths beside which were rocked the cradles of those who
made the history of Canada.

FAMOUS FIRESIDES

OF

FRENCH CANADA

BY

MARY WILSON ALLOW AY.

MONTREAL :

PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL & SON
1899

Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the
year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, by MARY
WILSON ALLOWAY, in the office of the Minister of Agricul-
ture and Statistics at Ottawa.

TO

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LORD STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL, G.C.M.G., LLD., &c,,

CHANCELLOR OF McGILL UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL,

AND
HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR CANADA IN LONDON,

THIS VOLUME

IS
BY SPECIAL PERMISSION

BY
THE AUTHOR.

The principal authorities consulted in the
preparation of this work were Le Moyne,
Kingsford, Rattray, Garneau, Park man, Haw-
kins and Bouchette.

Acknowledgments are also due to the kind
interest evinced and encouragement given by
the Hon. Judge Baby, President of the Numis-
matic and Antiquarian Society of Montreal.

CONTENTS

CMteau de Ramezay 19

Heroes of the Past 30

Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire 51

Le Seminaire 56

Cathedrals and Cloisters 58

Massacre of Lachine 82

Chateau de Vaudreuil 95

Battle of the Plains 103

Canada under English Rule • 125

American Invasion 144

The Continental Army in Canada , 155

Fur Kings 192

Interesting Sites 199

Famous Names 203

Echoes from the Past.. 212

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Fireplace Frontispiece.

Chateau Kitchen , ? 24

Chateau de Ramezay 26

Montgomery Salon , 28

Chapel of Notre Dame de la Victoire 52

Le S6minaire 56

Home of La Salle 84

St. Amable St 98

Fort Chambly 146

Chateau Fortier 156

Franklin Vaults 170

PREFACE.

In offering this little volume to the kind
consideration of Canadian and American read-
ers, it is the earnest wish of the Author that it
may commend itself to the interest of both, as
the early histories of Canada and the United
States are so closely connected that they may
be considered identical.

We have tried to recall the days when, by
these firesides, were rocked the cradles of
those who helped to make Canadian history,
and to render more familiar . the names and
deeds of the great men, French, English and
American, upon whose valour and wisdom such
mighty issues depended.

The recital is, we trust, wholly impartial and
without prejudice.

It is to be hoped that the union of sentiment
which the close of this century sees between
the two great Anglo-Saxon peoples may cast

Xll PREFACE.

a veil of forgetfulness over the strife of the one
preceding it ; and be a herald of that reign of
peace, when " nation shall no more rise against
nation, and wars shall cease."

/

MONTREAL, May 24, 1899.

INTRODUCTION.

A BOUT twelve years after the first
* * Spanish caravel had touched the
shores of North America, we find the French
putting forth efforts to share in some of the
results of the discovery. In the year 1504
some Basque, Breton and Norman fisher-
folk had already commenced fishing along
the bleak shores of Newfoundland and
the contiguous banks for the cod in which
this region is still so prolific.

The Spanish claim to the discovery of
America is disputed by several aspirants
to that honour. Among these are the
ancient mariners of Northern Europe, the
Norsemen of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
They assert that their Vikings touched
American shores three centuries before
Isabella of Castille drove the Moors from
their palaces among the orange groves of
Espana. Eric the Red, and other sea-
kings, made voyages to Iceland and Green-

14 INTRODUCTION.

land in the eleventh and following cen-
turies ; and it is highly probable that these
Norsemen, with their hardihood and enter-
prise, touched on some part of the main-
land. One Danish writer claims that this
occurred as far back as the year 985, about
eighty years after the death of the Danes'
mortal enemy, the great Saxon King
Alfred.

Even the Welsh, from the isolation of
their mountain fastnesses, declare that a
Cambrian expedition, in the year 1 1 70,
under Prince Modoc, landed in America.
In proof of this, there is said to exist in
Mexico a colony bearing indisputable
traces of the tongue of these ancient Celts.

The term Canada first appears as the
officially recognized name of the region in
the instructions given by Francis I to its
original colonists in the year 1538.

There are various theories as to the
etymology of the word, its having by
different authorities been attributed to
Indian, French and Spanish origins.

In an old copy of a Montreal paper,
bearing date of Dec. 24, 1834, it is assert-

INTRODUCTION. 15

ed that Canada or Kannata is an Indian
word, meaning a village, and was mistaken
by the early visitors for the name of the
whole country.

The Philadelphia Courier, of July, 1836,
gives the following not improbable etymo-
logy of the name of the province ; — Canada
is compounded of two aboriginal words,
Can, which signifies the mouth, and Ada
the country, meaning the mouth of the
country. A writer of the same period,
when there seems to have been consider-
able discussion on the subject, says: —
The word is undoubtedly of Spanish
origin, coming from a common Spanish
word, Canada, signifying a space or
opening between mountains or high banks
— a district in Mexico of similar physical
features, bearing the same name.

" That there were Spanish pilots or
navigators among the first discoverers of
the St. Lawrence may be readily supposed,
and what more natural than that those who
first visited the gulf should call the interior
of the country El Canada from the typo-
graphical appearance of the opening to it,

16 INTRODUCTION.

the custom of illiterate navigators naming
places from events and natural appearances
being well established."

Hennepin, an etymological savant, de-
clares that the name arose from the
Spaniards, who were the first discoverers
of Canada, exclaiming, on their failure to
find the precious metals, "El Capa da
nada" or Cape Nothing. There seems to
be some support of this alleged presence
of the Spanish among the early navigators
of the St. Lawrence, by the finding in the
river, near Three Rivers, in the year 1835,
an ancient cannon of peculiar make, which
was supposed to be of Spanish construc-
tion.

The origins of the names of Montreal
and Quebec are equally open to discussion.
Many stoutly assert that Montreal is the
French for Mount Royal, or Royal Mount ;
others, that by the introduction of one
letter, the name is legitimately Spanish —
Monte-real. Monte, designating any
wooded elevation, and that real is the
only word in that language for royal.

The word Quebec is attributed to Indian
and French sources. It is said that it is

INTRODUCTION. 17

an Algonquin word, meaning a strait, the
river at this point being not more than
a mile wide ; but although Champlain
coincided in this view, its root has enver
been discovered in any Indian tongue.
Its abrupt enunciation has not to the ear
the sound of an Indian word, and it could
scarcely have come from the Algonquin
language, which is singularly soft and sweet,
and may be considered the Italian of North
American dialects.

Those who claim for it a French origin,
say that the Normans, rowing up the river
with Cartier at his first discovery, as they
rounded the wooded shores of the Isle of
Orleans, and came in sight of the bare rock
rising three hundred feet from its base,
exclaimed " Quel bee ! " or, What a
promontory ! The word bears intrinsically
strong evidence of Norman origin.

Cape Diamond received its name from
the fact that in the " dark colored slate of
which it is composed are found perfectly
limpid quartz crystals in veins, along with
crystallized carbonate of lime, which, spark-
ling like diamonds among the crags, sug-
gested the appellation."

Famous Firesides

— OF* —

French Canada

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY.

FEW yards from the busy municipal
centre of the city of Montreal,
behind an antique iron railing, is a quaint,
old building- known as the Chateau de
Ramezay. Its history is contemporary
with that of the city for the last two cen-
turies, and so identified with past stirring
events that it has been saved from the
vandalism of modern improvement, and is
to be preserved as a relic of the old Regime
in New France. It is a long one-storied
structure, originally red-tiled, with graceful,
sloping roof, double rows of peaked, dormer
windows, huge chimneys and the unpolished
architecture of the period.

20 FRENCH CANADA.

Among the many historical buildings
of America, none have been the scene of
more thrilling events, a long line of interest-
ing associations being connected with the
now quiet old Chateau, looking in its
peaceful old age as out of keeping with its
modern surroundings as would an ancient
vellum missal, mellowed for centuries in a
monkish cell, appear among some of the
ephemeral literature of to-day.

A brilliant line of viceroys have here
held rule, and within its walls things mo-
mentous in the country's annals have been
enacted. During its checkered experience
no less than three distinct Regimes have
followed each other, French, British and
American. In an old document still to be
found among the archives of the Seminary
of St. Sulpice, it is recorded that the land
on which it stands was ceded to the Gover-
nor of Montreal in the year 1660, just
eighteen years after Maisonneuve, its
founder, planted the silken Fleur-de-Lys
of France on the shores of the savage Red-
man, and one hundred years before the tri-
cross of England floated for the first time
from the ramparts.

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY. 21

Somewhere about the year 1700 a
portion of this land was acquired by Claude
de Ramezay, Sieur de la Gesse, Bois Fleu-
rent and Monnoir, in France, and Governor
of Three Rivers, and this house built,

De Ramezay was of an old Franco-
Scottish family, being descended by Tki-
mothy, his father, from one Sir John Ram-
say, a Scotchman, who, with others of his
compatriots, went over to France in the
1 6th century. He may have joined an
army raised for the French wars, or may
have formed part of a bridal train similar to
the gay retinue of the fair Princess Mary,
who went from the dark fells and misty
lochs of the land of the Royal Stuarts to be
the loveliest queen who ever sat on the
throne of la belle France. De Ramezay
was the father of thirteen children, by his
wife, Mademoiselle Denys de la Ronde, a
sister of Mesdames Thomas Tarieu de La
Naudiere de La Perade, d'Ailleboust
d'Argenteuil, Chartier de Lotbiniere and
Aubert de la Chenage, the same family out
of whom came the celebrated de Jumon-
ville, so well known in connection with the

22 FRENCH CANADA.

unfortunate circumstances of Fort Neces-
sity. The original of the marriage contract
is still preserved in the records of the Mon-
treal Court House ; with its long list of
autographs of Governor, Intendant, and
high officials, civil and military, scions of
the nobility of the country, appended there-
to. The annals of the family tell us that
some of them died in infancy, several met
violent and untimely deaths, two of the
sisters took conventual vows in the cloisters
of Quebec, two married, having descendants
now living in France and Canada, and two
remained unmarried.

De Ramezay came over as a captain
in the army with the Viceroy de Tracy,
and was remarkable for his highly refined
education, having been a pupil of the cele-
brated Fenelon, who was said to have been
the pattern of virtue in the midst of a cor-
rupt court, and who was entrusted by Louis
the Fourteenth with the education of his
grandsons, the Dukes of Burgundy, Anjou
and Berri. Had the first named, who was
heir-presumptive to the throne, lived to
practice the princely virtues, the seeds of

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAY. 23

which his preceptor had sown in his heart,
some of the most bloody pages in French
history might never have been written.

De Ramezay, for many years being
Governor of Montreal, held official court in
the Council chamber to the right of the
entrance hall of the Chateau, which is now
a museum of rare and valuable relics of
Canada's past.

The Salon was the scene of many a
gay rout, as Madame de Ramezay, imitating
the brilliant social and political life as it
was in France in the time of Le Grand
Monarqm, transplanted to the wilds of
America some reflection of court ceremon-
ial and display as they culminated in that
long and brilliant reign. From the dormer
windows above, high-bred French ladies
looked at the sun rising over the forest-
clothed shores of the river, on which now
stands the architectural grandeur of the
modern city. How strange to the swarthy-
faced dwellers in the wigwam must the old-
time gaieties have appeared, as the lights
from the silver candelabres shone far out in
the night, when the old Chateau was en

24 FRENCH CANADA.

fete and aglow with music, dancing and
laughter.

What a contrast to the burden-bear-
ing squaws were the dainty French women
in stiff brocade and jewels, high heels, paint,
patches and tresses a la Pompadour, trip-
ping through the stately measures of the
minuet to the sound of lute or harpsichord !

" O, fair young land of La Nbuvelle France,
With thy halo of olden time romance,
Back like a half- forgotten dream
Come the bygone days of the old Rigime"

The servants and retainers, imitating
their lords, held high revel in the vault-
ed kitchens ; while dishes and confections,
savoury and delicious, came from the
curious fire-place and ovens recently disco-
vered in the vaults. These ancient kitchen
offices, built to resist a siege, are exceed-
ingly interesting in the light of our culinary
arrangements of to-day. They were so
constructed that if the buildings above,
with their massive masonry, were destroyed,
they would afford safe and comfortable
refuge. The roof is arched, and, like the
walls, is several feet thick, of solid stone,

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAT. 25

lighted by heavily barred windows, with
strong iron shutters. In clearing out the
walled-up and long-forgotten ovens, there
were found bits of broken crockery, pipe-
stems and the ashes of fires, gone out many,
many long years ago. As indicated by an
early map of the city, the position of the
original well was located ; in which, when
it is cleaned out, it is intended to hang an
old oaken bucket and drinking cups as
nearly as possible as they originally were.

Some time after the death of de
Ramezay, which occurred in the city of
Quebec in 1724, these noble halls fell into
the possession of the fur-traders of Canada,
and many a time these underground cel-
lars were stored with the rich skins of the
mink, silver fox, marten, sable and ermine
lor the markets of Europe and for royalty
itself. They were brought in by the
hunters and trappers over the boundless
domains of the fur companies, and by the
Indian tribes friendly to the peltrie trade.
As these hardy, bronzed men sat around
the hearth, while the juicy haunch of veni-
son roasted on the spit by the blazing logs,

26 FRENCH CANADA.

relating blood-curdling tales and hair-
breadth escapes, they were a necessary
phase of times long passed away, but which
will always have a picturesqueness espe-
cially their own.

Instead of the white man's influencing
the savage towards civilized customs, it
was often found, as one writer has said,
that hundreds of white men were barbar-
ized on this continent for each single
savage that was civilized. Many of the
former identified themselves by marriage
and mode of life with the Indians, deve-
loped their traits of hardihood and acquired
their knowledge of woodcraft and skill in
navigating the streams. In pursuit of the
fur-bearing animals in their native haunts,
they shot the raging rapids, ventured out
upon the broad expanse of the treacherous
lakes, and endured without complaint the
severity of winter and the exposure of forest
life in summer.

Their ranks were continually increased
by those who were impatient of the slow
method of obtaining a livelihood from the
tillage of the soil, when the husbandman

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAT. 27

was frequently driven from the plough by
the sudden attack of Indian foes, or inter-
rupted in his hasty and anxious harvesting
by their war-whoop, or perhaps was com-
pelled to leave his farm to take up arms, if
the occasion arose, so that in many in-
stances the homesteads were left to the old
men, women and children. The excite-
ment of the chase and the wild freedom of
the plains had a fascination that many
could not resist, so much so that the king
had to promulgate an edict, to stop, under
heavy penalties, this roving life of his
Canadian subjects, as their nomadic ten-
dencies interfered with the successful set-
tlement of the colony.

To the lover of the quaint architecture
of other centuries, there is an indescribable
charm in these time-worn walls, which
are still as substantial as if the snows
and rains of two centuries had not beaten
against them. The interior is equally
interesting in this regard, as the walls divid-
ing the chambers and corridors, though
covered with modern plaster and stucco,
are found to consist of several feet of solid

28 FRENCH CANADA.

stone masonry, while the ornamental ceiling
covers beams of timber, twenty inches by
eighteen, which is strong, well jointed and
placed as close as flooring. Above this is
heavy stone work over twelve inches thick,
so that the sloping roof was the only part
pregnable in an assault with the munitions
of war then in use. Upon removing a
portion of the modern wainscotting in the
main reception room, there was discovered
an ancient fireplace, made of roughly
hewn blocks of granite. A crescent-shaped
portion of the hearthstone is capable of
removal, for what purpose it is not known.
With old andirons and huge logs, it looks
to-day exactly as it must have done when
Montgomery and his suite, in revolutionary
uniform, received delegations in this cham-
ber, and when Brigadier General Wooster,
who succeeded him, wrote and sent des-
patches by courier from the French Cha-
teau to the Colonial mansion at Mount
Vernon.

The rooms of state in those days were,
it is said, all in what is at present the back of
the house, the rear of the building being

THE CHATEAU DE RAMEZAT.

29

the front, facing the river, down to which
ran the gardens.

It may be that the moonlight cast on
these panes the shadow of the noble Sir
Jeffrey Amherst, in his red coat, as looking
out over the river he may have seen the
smoke of the fire lighted by de Levis,
where he burnt his colours rather than let
them fall into the hands of the English.

HEROES OF THE PAST.

©N the river bank below the Chateau,
tradition says, was the spot trodden
by Jacques Carder, who gave the river its
name. Born at the time when all Europe
was still excited over the tales of Columbus'
adventures, he left the white cliffs and grey
docks of St. Malo, where he had learned
the sailor's craft, to search for the western
route to the Indies.

A little higher up, less than a century
later, Champlain, to push on actively his
operations in the fur-trade, built his fort,
the name which he then gave the spot,
"Place Royale" being recently restored
to it. In his wanderings for the further
pursuance of this object, he discovered
Lakes Ontario, Huron and Champlain.

Being betrothed to a twelve year old
maiden, Helene Bouille, the daughter of a
Huguenot, he named the island opposite
the city, which lies like a green gem
among the crystal waters, Helene, in

HEROES OF THE PAST. 31

affectionate remembrance of her who, at
the end of eight years, was to join him
im his adventurous life.

The winding length of quiet, old St.
Paul street, then an Indian trail, following
the course of the river through the oak
forest, must often have known the pre-
sence of this picturesque warrior in his
weather-beaten garments of the doublet
and long hose then in vogue. " Over
the doublet he buckled on a breastplate,
and probably a back piece, while his
thighs were protected by cuisses of steel
and his head by a plumed casque.
Across his shoulders hung the strap of
his bandolier or ammunition box, at his
side was his sword, and in his hand his
arquebuse. Such was the equipment of
this ancient Indian fighter, whose ex-
ploits date eleven years before the Puritans
landed," among the grey granite hills
of New England.

He was an armourer of Dieppe, who,
though " a great captain, a successful dis-
coverer and a noted geographer, was
more than all a God-fearing, Christian

32 FRENCH CANADA..

gentleman." He was more concerned to
gain victories by the cross than by the
sword, saying: — " The salvation of a
soul is of more value than the conquest
of an empire."

The year 1620 was a red letter day
in the history of the Colony, when, from
a little vessel moored at the foot of the
cliff, he led on shore at Quebec his young
bride, who with her three maids had come
to the western wilderness, the first gentle-
woman to land on Canadian shores.
He conducted her to where is now the
corner of Notre Dame and Sous-le-Fort
streets, to the rude "habitation" he had
prepared for her reception, which was
poorly furnished and unhomelike in com-
parison to the one which she had left over
the sea. But history tells of no word of
complaint nor disappointment coming
from the gentle lips ; but, as the youthful
chdteleine sat by her hearth, it shed a light
among the huts of the settlers and dusky
lodges of the natives, as her example of
patience and duty performed by the first
refined, civilized fireside in the land does

HEROES OF THE PAST. 33

to the thousands who have succeeded her.
After almost three hundred years, the
" charms of her person, her elegance and
kindliness of manner" are still remem-
bered. The chronicler tells us that the
" Governor's lady wore in her daily ram-
bles, amongst the wigwams, an article of
feminine attire, not unusual in those days,
a small mirror at her girdle. It appealed
irresistibly to the simple natures around
her, that " a beauteous being should love
them so much as to carry their images
reflected close to her heart."

4 * The graceful figure of the first lady
of Canada, gliding noiselessly along by
the murmuring waters of the St. Law-
rence, showering everywhere smiles and
kindness, a help-mate to her noble lord,
and a pattern of purity and refinement,
was indeed a vision of female loveliness "
which time cannot obliterate nor forget-
fulness dim. The domestic life of the
colony dates from about the time of her
arrival, the first regular register of mar-
riage being entered in the following year ;
two months after the first nuptial cere-

34 FRENCH CANADA.

mony was performed in New England.
The first christening took place in the
same year, 1621, the ordinance being ad-
ministered to the infant son of Abraham
Martin, dit L? Ecossais, pilot of the river
St. Lawrence. This old pilot, named in
the journal of the Jesuits as Mditre
Abraham, has bequeathed his name to
the famous Plains, on which was decided
the destiny of New France.

It was indeed a sorry day for the
settlement when the inhabitants, on the
1 6th of August, 1624, saw the white sails
of Champlain's vessel disappear behind
what is now Point Levis, carrying back,
alas! forever, to the shores of her be-
loved France, Madame de Champlain,
sighing for the mystic life of the cloister,
tired out by the incessant alarms and
the Indian ferocities spread around the
Fort during the frequent absences of her
husband and her favourite brother, Eus-
tache Bouille." The daintily-nurtured
French lady must have found the quiet of
the old-world convent a very haven of
peace and rest. She died at Mieux, an

HEROES OF TEE PAST. 35

Ursuline Nun, in the order which subse-
quently was to be so closely identified
with the religious history of her wilder-
ness home.

But monastic retreat had no attrac-
tions for the founder of Fort St. Louis.
Parkman says : " Champlain, though in
Paris is restless. He is enamoured of the
New World, whose rugged charms have
seized his fancy and his heart. His rest-
less thoughts revert to the fog-wrapped
coasts, the piney odours of the forests,
the noise of waters and the sharp and
piercing sunlight so dear to his remem-
brance."

Among these he was destined to lay
down his well worn armour at the com-
mand of death, the only enemy before
whom he ever retreated ; for on Christmas
Day, 1635, in a chamber in the Fort at
Quebec, " breathless and cold lay the
hardy frame which war, the wilderness
and the sea had buffeted so long in vain.
The chevalier, crusader, romance-loving
explorer and practical navigator lay still
in death," leaving the memory of a cour-

36 HEROES OF THE PAST.

age that was matchless and a patience
that was sublime.

For over two hundred and sixty years,
no monument stood to celebrate this true
patriot's name, but now his statue stands
in his city, near to where he laid the
foundations and built the Chateau St.
Louis. Most unfortunately his last
resting place is unknown, notwithstand-
ing the laborious and learned efforts of
the many distinguished antiquarians of
Quebec.

The Fort which Champlain built in
1620, and in which he died, was for over
two centuries the seat of government, and
the name recalls the thrilling events
which clothed it with an atmosphere of
great and stirring interest during its
several periods. The hall of the Fort
during the weakness of the colony was
often, it is said, a scene of terror and
despair from the inroads of the ferocious
savages, who, having passed and over-
thrown all the French outposts, threat-
ened the Fort itself, and massacred some
friendly Indians within sight of its walls.

HEROES OF THE PAST. 37

" In the palmy days of French sover-
eignty it was the centre of power over
the immense domain extending from the
Gulf of St. Lawrence along the shores
of the noble river and down the course of
the Mississippi to its outlet below New
Orleans.

The banner which first streamed from
the battlements of Quebec was displayed
from a line of forts which protected the
settlements throughout this vast extent
of country. The Council Chamber of the
Castle was the scene of many a midnight
vigil, many a long deliberation and deep-
laid project, to free the continent from
the intrusion of the ancient rivals of
France and assert her supremacy. Here
also was rendered, with all its ancient
forms, the fealty and homage of the
noblesse and military retainers, who held
possessions under the Crown, a feudal
service suited to those early times, and
which is still performed by the peers at
the coronation of our kings in West-
minster Abbey."

Among the many dramatic scenes of

38

FRENCH CANADA.

which it was the theatre, no occurrence
was more remarkable than an event which
happened in the year 1690, when " Castle
St. Louis had assumed an appearance
worthy of the Governor-General, who then
made it the seat of the Royal Govern-
ment, the dignified Count de Frontenac,

a nobleman of great talents, long service
and extreme pride, and who is considered

HEROES OF THE PAST. 39

one of the most illustrious of the early
French rulers." The story is, that Sir
William Phipps, an English admiral,
arriving with his fleet in the harbour, and
believing the city to be in a defenceless
condition, thought he might capture it
by surprise. An officer was sent ashore
with a flag of truce. He was met half
way by a French major and his men,
who, placing a bandage over the intrud-
er's eyes, conducted him by a circuitous
route to the Castle, having recourse on
the way to various stratagems, such as
making small bodies of soldiers cross
and re-cross his path, to give him the im-
pression of the presence of a strong force.
On arriving at the Castle, his surprise
we are told was extreme on finding him-
self in the presence of the Governor-Gen-
eral, the Intendant and the Bishop, with
a large staff of French officers, uniformed
in full regimentals, drawn up in the centre
of the great hall ready to receive him.

The British officer immediately hand-
ed to Frontenac a written demand for
an unconditional surrender, in the name

40 FRENCH CANADA.

of the new Sovereigns, William and Mary,
whom Protestant England had crowned
instead of the dethroned and Catholic
James. Taking his watch from his pocket
and placing it on a table near by, he per-
emptorily demanded a positive answer in
an hour's time at the furthest. This ac-
tion was like the spark in the tinder, and
completely roused the anger and indigna-
tion of his hearers, who had scarcely been
able to restrain their excitement during
the reading of the summons, which the
Englishman had delivered in an imperious
voice, and which an interpreter had
translated word for word to the outraged
audience.

A murmur of repressed resentment ran
through the assembly, when one of the
officers, without waiting for his superior
to reply, exclaimed impetuously : — that
the messenger ought to be treated as the
envoy of a corsair, or common marauder,
since Phipps was in arms against his le-
gitimate Sovereign. Frontenac, although
keenly hurt in his most vulnerable point,
— his pride — by the lack of ceremony dis-

HEROES OF THE PAST. 41

played in the conduct of the Englishman,
replied in a calm voice, but in impas-
sioned words, saying loftily : — " You will
have no occasion to wait so long for my
answer, — here it is : — I do not recognize
King William, but I know that the Prince
of Orange is an usurper, who has violated
the most sacred ties of blood and religion
in dethroning the King, his father-in-law;
and I acknowledge no other legitimate
Sovereign than James the Second. Do
your best, and I will do mine."

The messenger thereupon demanded
that the reply be given him in writing,
which the Governor haughtily refused,
saying :—

u I am going to answer your master at
the cannon's mouth ; he shall be taught
that this is not the manner in which a
person of my rank ought to be sum-
moned."

Charlevoix seems to have very much
admired the lordly bearing of Frontenac
on this occasion, which was so trying to
his self-control, but, with an impartiality
creditable to a Frenchman, he justly

42 FRENCH CANADA.

chronicles his equal admiration for the
coolness and presence of mind with which
the Englishman signalized himself in
carrying out his mission, under insults
and humiliations scarcely to be looked for
from those who should have known better
the respect due to a flag of truce.

The commander of the fleet, finding
the place ready for resistance, concluded
that the lateness of the season rendered
it unwise to commence a regular siege
against a city whose natural and artificial
defences made it a formidable fortress,
and which, when garrisoned by troops of
such temper and mettle, it appeared im-
possible to reduce. It must also be con-
sidered that Phipps had been delayed
by contrary winds and pilots ignorant of
the river navigation, which combination
of untoward circumstances conspired to
compel him to relinquish his design,
which under more favouring conditions he
might have carried out with success, and
conquered the place before it could have
been known in Montreal that it was even
in danger.

HEROES OF THE PAST. 43

" Without doubt Frontenac was the
most conspicuous figure which the an-
nals of the early colonization of Canada
affords. He was the descendant of se-
veral generations of distinguished men
who were famous as courtiers and sol-
diers." He was of Basque origin and
proud of his noble ancestry. He was
born in 1620, and was distinguished by
becoming the god-child of the King, the
royal sponsor bestowing his own name on
the unconscious babe, who was in after
years to be a sturdy defender of France's
dominions over the ocean. He became
a soldier at the age of fifteen, and even in
early youth and manhood saw active
service and gave promise of gallantry and
bravery.

In October, 1648, he married the lovely
young Anne de la Grange-Trianon, a
" maiden of imperious temper, lively wit
and marvellous grace." She was a beauty
of the court and chosen friend of Ma-
demoiselle de Montpensier, the grand-
daughter of King Henry the Fourth. A
celebrated painting of the Comtesse de

44 FRENCH CANADA.

Frontenac, in the character of Minerva,
smiles on the walls of one of the galleries
at Versailles.

The marriage took place without the
consent of the bride's relatives, and soon
proved an ill-starred one, the young wife's
fickle affection turning into a strong re-
pulsion for her husband, whom she in-
trigued to have sent out of the country.

Her influence at court, and some
jealousy on the part of the King com-
bined to bring about this end, and Fron-
tenac was appointed Governor and Lieu-
tenant-General of La Nouvelle France.

Parkman says : — " A man of courts
and camps, born and bred in the focus of
a most gorgeous civilization, he was
banished to the ends of the earth, among
savage hordes and half-reclaimed forests,
to exchange the splendour of St. Germain
and the dawning glories of Versailles for
a stern, grey rock, haunted by sombre
priests, rugged merchants, traders, blank-
eted Indians and wild bushrangers."
When he sailed up the river and the stern
grandeur of the scene opened up before
him, he felt as he afterwards wrote : —

HEROES OF THE PAST. 45

" I never saw anything more superb
than the position of this town. It could
not be better situated for the future
capital of an empire."

But the dainty and luxurious Comtesse
had no taste for pioneer life, and no
thought of leaving her silken-draped boii-
doir for a home in a rude fort on a rock ;
she therefore accepted the offer of a domi-
cile with her kindred spirit, Mademoiselle
d'Outrelaise. The " Divines," as they
were called, established a Salon, which,
among the many similar coteries of the
time, was remarkable for its wit and
gaiety. It set the fashion to French
society, and was affected by all the leading
spirits of the Court and Capital.

Although an occasional billet came
from the recreant spouse to her husband
in the Castle St. Louis, no home life nor
welcoming domestic fire-side threw a
charm over his exile. The glamour with
which affection can glorify even the rudest
surroundings was denied him in his long
life of seventy-six years.

To avoid the confusion to which the
3

46 FRENCH CANADA.

terms Fort St. Louis and Castle St. Louis
might lead, it must be understood that
they in a measure were the same, as the
one enclosed the other.

In the year 1834, two hundred and
fourteen years after the foundation of
this Chateau, a banquet was prepared
for the reception of those invited to
partake of the official hospitality of the
Governor ; when suddenly the tocsin
sounded, — the dreaded alarm of fire. Soon
the streets were thronged with citizens,
with anxious enquiries passing from lip
to lip, and ere long the cry was uttered :
" To the Castle, to the Castle ! "

The entire population of merchants and
artisans, soldiers from the garrison,
priests from the monasteries, and citizens,
rich and poor, joined hands with the fire-
men to save the mediaeval fortress from
destruction, and its treasured contents
from the flames. Old silver was snatched
from the banquet table by some who had
expected to sit around the board as guests.

At the head of the principal staircase,
where it had stood for fifty years or more,

HEROES OF THE PAST. 47

was a bust of Wolfe, with the inscription
upon it : —

" Let no vain tear upon this bust be shed,
A common tribute to the common dead,
But let the good, the generous, the brave,
With God-like envy sigh for such a grave."

Fortunately, in the confusion of the dis-
aster it was not overlooked, but was carried
to a place of safety. While every heart
present could not but be moved with the
deepest feelings of regret at the loss of its
hoary walls, yet the beholder was forced
to admire the magnificent spectacular
effect of the conflagration which crowned
the battlements and reflected over crag
and river, as the old fort, which had stub-
bornly resisted all its enemies during five
sieges, fell before the devouring element.

Its stones were permeated with the mili-
tary and religious history of the " old rock
city," for, in the fifteen years of its occu-
pancy by Champlain, it was as much a
mission as a fort. The historian says : —
" A stranger visiting the Fort of Quebec
would have been astonished at its air of
conventual decorum. Black-robed Jesuits

48 FRENCH CANADA.

and scarfed officers mingled at Champlain's
table. There was little conversation, but
in its place histories and the lives of the
saints were read aloud, as in a monastic
refectory. Prayers, masses and confes-
sions followed each other, and the bell of
the adjacent chapel rang morning, noon
and night. Quebec became a shrine. God-
less soldiers whipped themselves to peni-
tence, women of the world outdid each
other in the fury of their contrition, and In-
dians gathered thither for the gifts of kind
words and the polite blandishments be-
stowed upon them."

The site where the old Chateau St.
Louis once stood, with its halo of romance
and renown, is now partially covered by
the great Quebec hostelry, the Chateau
Frontenac, which in its erection and ap-
pointments has not destroyed, but rather
perpetuated, the traditions of the " Sentinel
City of the St. Lawrence."

" Chateau Frontenac has been planned
with the strong sense of the fitness of
things, being a veritable old-time Chateau,
whose curves and cupolas, turrets and

HEROES OF THE PAST. 49

towers, even whose tones of gray stone
and dulled brick harmonize with the sober
quaint architecture of our dear old Fortress
City, and looks like a small bit of Medi-
aeval Europe perched upon a rock/'

Under the promenade of Durham Ter-
race is still the cellar of the old Chateau ;
and standing upon it, the patriot, whether
English or French, cannot but thrill as he
looks on the same scene upon which the
heroes of the past so often gazed, and from
which they flung defiance to their foes.

On almost the same spot upon which
Champlain had landed at Montreal, and
about seven years after his death, a small
band of consecrated men and women,
singing a hymn, drew up their tempest-
worn pinnace, and raised their standard in
the name of King Louis, while Maison-
neuve, the ascetic knight, planted a cruci-
fix, and dedicated the land to God.

The city as it stands on this spot is a
fulfilment of his vow then made, when he
declared, as he pitched his tent and lighted
his camp-fire, that here he would found a
city though every tree on the island were

50 FRENCH CANADA.

an Iroquois. On an altar of bark, decor-
ated with wild flowers and lighted by fire-
flies, the first mass was celebrated, and the
birthnight of Montreal registered.

From the little seed thus planted in this
rude altar, a mighty harvest has arisen in
cathedral, monastery, church and con-
vent, representing untold wealth and influ-
ence. The early French explorer, with a
" sword in his hand and a crucifix on his
breast," was more desirous of Christianizing
than of conquering the native tribes. So
completely has this creed become identified
with the country's character and history,
that the province of Quebec is emphati-
cally a Catholic community. So faithfully
have its tenets been handed down by
generations of devout followers of this
faith, that even the streets and squares
bear the names of saints and martyrs, such
as St. Francis Xavier, St. Peter, St. John,
St. Joseph, St. Mary, and in fact the entire
calendar is represented, especially in the
east end of the town. St. Paul, which was
probably the first street laid out, is called
after the city's founder himself, — Paul
Chomedy de Maisonneuve.

NOTRE-DAME-DE-LA-VICTOIRE.

A FEW rods to the west of the Chateau,
f* through a vaulted archway leading
from the street, in the shadow of the peace-
ful convent buildings is a little chapel called
Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire. The swallows
twittering under its broken eaves are now
the only^ sign of life ; and its rotting tim-
bers and threshold, forgotten by the world,
give no suggestion of the martial incident
to which it owes its existence. While the
American Colonies were still English, the
British Ensign floated over Boston town,
and good Queen Anne was prayed for in
Puritan pulpits, an expedition was fitted
out under Sir Hovenden Walker to drive
the French out of Canada. In the previous
year, 1710, the Legislature of New York
had taken steps to lay before the Queen
the alarming progress of Gallic domination
in America, saying : —

" It is well known that the French can

52 FRENCH CANADA.

go by water from Quebec to Montreal ;
from thence they can do the like through
the rivers and lakes, at the risk of all your
Majesty's plantations on this Continent, as
far as Carolina."

In the command of Walker were sev-
eral companies of regulars draughted
from the great Duke of Maryborough's
Army. While he was leading it from vic-
tory to victory for the glory of his King,
his wife, the famous Sarah Jennings, was
making a conquest at home of the affec-
tions of the simple-minded and susceptible
Queen. It is remarkable that the coronet
of this ambitious woman should now rest
on the brow of an American girl, and that
a daughter of New York should reign at
Blenheim Castle. At that period France
possessed the two great valleys of North
America, the Mississippi and the St. Law-
rence ; to capture the latter was the aim of
the expedition.

As the hostile fleet sailed up the St.
Lawrence, a storm of great severity burst
upon the invaders. Eight of the transports
were recked on the reefs, and in the dawn

NOTRE-DAME-DE-LA-VICTOIRE. 53

of the midsummer morning the bodies of a
thousand red-coated soldiers were strewn
on the sands of Isle-aux-CEufs. It has
been said that an old sea-dog, Jean Para-
dis, refused to act as pilot, and in a fog
allowed them to run straight on to death ;
and also that among those who perished
was one of the court beauties who had
eloped with Sir Hovenden

The disabled vessels retreated before the
artillery of the elements, and left Bourbon's
Lilied Blue to wave for half a century
longer over Fort St. Louis. This blood-
less victory for the French was attributed
by them to the intervention of the Virgin,
in gratitude for which this chapel was
vowed and built, as was also another on the
market place, Lower Town, Quebec. The
miraculous feature of the defeated invasion
was considered certain from the fact that a
recluse in the convent near the chapel, and
who was remarkable for her piety, had em-
broidered a prayer to the Virgin on the
flag which the Baron de Longueuil had
borne from Montreal in command of a de-
tachment of troops.

54 FRENCH CANADA.

Some of the original interior fittings of the
chapel still exist, but the bell which chimed
its first call to vespers, when the great city
was a quiet, frontier hamlet, has long been
silent. It is to be regretted that from its his-
torical character it has not been preserved
from decay, but looks as time-worn and
mouldering as does the rusty cannon in the
hall of the Chateau, which was one of the
guns of the ill-fated fleet, and over which
the river had flowed for almost two hun-
dred years. Seven of England's sovereigns
had lived, reigned and died, and in France
the Royal house had fallen in the deluge of
blood that flowed around the guillotine.
Quebec had changed flags — the Tri-color
had been unfurled over the Hoiel-de- Ville
at Paris, and the Stars and Stripes over the
new-born nation.

The thrones of Europe had tottered at
the word of the Corsican boy, — he had
played with crowns as with golden bau-
bles, and had gone from the imperial purple
to the mist-shrouded rocks of St. Helena.
Eugenie, the Beautiful, had ruled the world
by her grace, and fled from the throne of

NOTRE-DAME-DE-LA-VICTOIRE.

55

the haughty Louis to a loveless exile —
while the old gun, with its charge rusting in
its mouth, lay in silence under the passing
keels of a million craft.

LE SEMINAIRE.

C^TILL more ancient is a venerable pos-
QJ tern in the blackened wall of the
Seminary of St. Sulpice, near by, which is
now the oldest building in the city, being
erected some fifty years before the Chateau.
It leads by a narrow lane to the gardens of
the Monastery, which bloom quiet and still
here in the heart of the throbbing life of
a city of to-day. Generations of saintly
men, under vows, have trodden in the shade
of its walks, trying with the rigours of mon-
astic life to crush out the memories of love
and home left behind among the sun-kissed
vineyards of France. For two hundred
years and more no woman's footstep had
fallen here among the flowers, until recent-
ly the wife of a Governor-General was ad-
mitted on a special occasion. On the
cobble-stones of the courtyard, pilgrims,
penitents, priests and soldiers have trodden,
the echoes of their footsteps passing away
in centuries of years. Above the walls,
blackened by time and pierced by windows

LE SEMINAIRE. 57

with the small panes of a fashion gone by,
the bells of the clock ring out the stroke of
midnight over one-third of a million souls,
as it did the hours of morning when the
great-great-grandfathers of the present gen-
eration ran to school over the grass-grown
pavements of young Ville- Marie.

"The inimitable old roof-curves still
cover the walls, and the Fleur-de-Lys still
cap the pinnacles" as in the days when
Richelieu, the prince of prelates, sought to
plant the feudalism and Christianity of old
France on the shores of the new. They
still rise against the blue of Canadian skies
unmolested, while in France, in the early
years of the century, popular frenzy dragged
this symbol of royalty from the spires of
the churches and convents of Paris.

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS.

Order of the Gentlemen of St. Sul-
1 pice is supposed to be very rich, the
amount of the immense revenues never
being made public. They were the feudal
lords of the Island of Montreal in the earlier
chapters of its history. Through their zea-
lous efforts and the generosity of their pa-
rishioners was opened in the year eighteen
hundred and twenty-nine the grand church
adjoining, that of Notre Dame, built on
the site of the original parish church.
Viewing it from the extensive plaza in
front, its imposing proportions fill the
beholder with the same awe as when look-
ing at some lofty mountain peak, but its
symmetry is so exquisite that its size can-
not at first be appreciated.

In imitation of its prototype, Notre
Dame de Paris> twin towers rise in state-
liness to a height of two hundred and
twenty-seven feet, and are visible for a dis-

CATHEDRALS AND CLOI8TER8. 59

tance of thirty miles. The facade is im-
pressive, the style a modification of differ-
ent schools adapted to carry out the design
intended. Three colossal statues of the
Virgin, St. Joseph and St. John the Bap-
tist are placed over the arcades. The
sublime structure belongs to a branch of
the Gothic, in the pointed arch type of
architecture which was brought home
from the Crusades, — a style which has
come down from the time-honoured archi-
tecture of the old world, when religious
thought that now finds expression in books
was written and symbolized in stone.

From a vestibule at the foot of the
western tower, an ascent of two hundred
and seventy-nine steps offers a most en-
chanting view of mountain, river, street and
harbour, with such a wilderness of dome,
steeple and belfry, that the exclamation in-
voluntarily arises — this is truly a city of
churches !

On the descent, a pause on a platform
gives the opportunity of admiring " Le
Gros Bourdon" or great bell, and one of
the largest in the world. It weighs twenty-

60 FRENCH CANADA.

four thousand, seven hundred and eighty
pounds, and is six feet high. Its mouth
measures eight feet, seven inches in dia-
meter. The tone is magnificent in depth
and fullness. On occasions such as the
death of high ecclesiastics or other solemn
events, its tolling is indescribable in its
slow, sonorous vibrations. In the eastern
tower hang ten smaller bells of beautiful
quality, and so harmonized that choice and
varied compositions can be performed by
the eighteen ringers required in their
manipulation. On high festivals, when all
ring out with brazen tongues, caught up
and re-echoed from spire to spire in what
Victor Hugo describes as : — " Mingling
and blending in the air like a rich em-
broidery of all sorts of melodious sounds "
— America can furnish no greater oratorio.
Its interior, which is profusely embel-
lished and enriched, the spacious, two-
storied galleries, in a twilight of mysterious
gloom, and an altar upon which so much
wealth has been consecrated, combine to
make it a temple worthy of any time or
race.

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. Q\

"Whatever may be the external differ-
ences, we always find in the Christian
Cathedral, no matter how modified, the
Roman Basilica. It rises forever from the
ground in harmony with the same laws.
There are invariably two naves intersect-
ing each other in the form of a cross, the
upper end being rounded into a chancel or
choir. There are always side aisles for
processions or for chapels, and a sort of
lateral gallery into which the principal
nave opens by means of the spaces
between the columns.

" The number of chapels, steeples, doors
and spires may be modified indefinitely,
according to the century, the people and
the art. Statues, stained glass, rose-win-
dows, arabesques, denticulations, capitals
and bas-reliefs are employed according as
they are desired. Hence the immense
variety in the exterior of structures, within
which there dwells such unity and order."

The nave here is two hundred and
twenty feet long, almost eighty in height,
and one hundred and twenty in width, in-
cluding the side aisles. The walls, which
4

62 FRENCH CANADA.

are five feet thick, have fourteen side win-
dows forty feet high, which light softly the
galleries and grand aisle. So admirable is
the arrangement, that fifteen thousand peo-
ple can find accommodation and hear per-
fectly in all parts of the building. On high
festivals, such as Christmas or Easter, when
the great organ, said to be the finest
in America, under the fingers of a mas-
ter, with full choir and orchestra, rolls out
the music of the masses, the senses are
enthralled by the magnificence of the har-
mony. The various altars and mural
decorations are beautiful with painting,
gilding and carving. In the subdued light,
which filters through the stained windows,
are found many things of especial sanctity
to the faithful. On a column rests an ex-
quisite little statuette of the Virgin, which
was a gift from Pope Pius the Ninth, the
finely chased and wrought crucifix and the
riband attached to it having been worn
around the neck of the High Pontiff himself.
Directly opposite to it is a statue of St.
Peter, a copy of that at Rome. Fifty days
indulgence are granted to those who pious-

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 63

ly kiss this image. Under one altar rest
the bones of St. Felix, which were taken
from the Catacombs at Rome, and on an-
other is a picture of the Madonna, said to
be a copy of one painted by St. Luke. On
all the shrines are candlesticks, votive offer-
ings and many other articles of great age,
value and veneration.

The main altar is exceedingly rich in
artistic ornamentation, representing in its
design the religious history of the world,
and is the only one of the kind in exist-
ence. Although the foundation stones
of this great pile were laid seventy years
ago, this grand anthem in stone has not
yet reached its "amen," many additions
to it being yet in contemplation.

Like many others of earth master-
pieces in architecture, it is at once the
monument to and the mausoleum of its
builder, whose body, according to his
dying request, although a Protestant,
lies in the vaults beneath his greatest
life-work.

Through some halls and corridors back
of the grand altar is the chapel of " Our

64 FRENCH CANADA.

Lady of the Sacred Heart," which is one
of the most beautiful sanctuaries in the
city, and remarkable for the harmony of
its lines and proportions. It is in the
form of a cross, ninety feet in length,
eighty-five feet in the transept with an
altitude of fifty-five feet. The splendour
of its ornamentation, carving, sculpture,
elegant galleries, panels in mosaic, original
paintings by Canadian artists, and a
beautiful reproduction of Raphael's
celebrated frieze of " The Dispute of the
Blessed Sacrament," unite to constitute
this piece of ecclesiastical architecture a
chef d? oeuvre.

An iconoclast might marvel at the
absorption in prayer of some of the de-
votees, among accessories bewildering to
eyes accustomed to the plainer surround-
ings of other forms of ritual, but the wor-
ship of those in attendance seems sincere
and complete.

Following the footsteps of Cartier to
where, near the foot of Mount Royal, he
found the Indian village of Hochelaga,
is now to be seen the St. James' Cathedral,

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 65

which is a reduced copy of St. Peter's at
Rome, the great centre from which
radiates the Catholicism of Christendom.
It is somewhat less than half the dimen-
sions of its model, with certain modifica-
tions necessary in the differences of cli-
mate. The work was entrusted to M.
Victor Bourgeau, who, to gain the in-
formation necessary to carry out success-
fully a repetition of the great master,
Michael Angelo's conception, spent some
time in the Eternal City studying the
various details. But the real architect,
it may be said, who made the plans and
supervised and directed the building of
the sacred monument, was Rev. Father
Michaud, of the St. Viateur Order. To
raise the funds necessary for the initial
work, every member of the immense
diocese was taxed ; and even now, after
a lapse of thirty years, it is still un-
finished, so great has been the expense
involved. The handsome facade is ela-
borately columned in cut-stone, for which
only blocks of the most perfect kind were
used.

66 FRENCH CANADA.

Like the colossal dome at Rome, this
one towers above every other structure in
the city, with the height of the cross in-
cluded, being forty feet higher than the
lofty towers of Notre Dame. It is seventy
feet in diameter, and two hundred and
ten feet above the pavement. It is after
the work of Brunelleschi, whose exquisite
art and genius flung the airy grace of his
incomparable domes against Florentine
and Roman skies.

There is none of the "dim, religious
light" in the interior decoration of white
and gold, the subtle colouring of the sym-
bolic frescoing and the brilliance of the
gold and brazen altar furnishing. At a
service celebrated especially for the Papal
Zuaves, the picturesque red and grey of
their uniform, the priests in gorgeous
canonicals of scarlet, stiff with gold, the
acolytes in white surplices and the vener-
able archbishop in cardinal and purple,
with a chorus from Handel ringing
through the vaulted roof, a full concep-
tion of the Papal form of worship can be
obtained ; while a squaw in blanket and

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 67

moccasins kneeling on the floor beside a
fluted pillar seems the living symbol of
the heathendom the early fathers came to
convert.

In Canada the Jesuits have always
been prominent in its history, signalizing
themselves by extraordinary devotion and
self-sacrifice, and were among the earliest
explorers of the Continent, the first
sound of civilization over many of the
lakes and rivers being the chant of the
capuchined friar. Fathers Brebceuf
and Lalemant, burnt by the Indians ;
Garreau, butchered ; Chabanel, drowned
by an apostate Huron, and others hid-
eously tortured, testified with their blood
to their devotion. From the Atlantic to
the prairies, from the bleak shores of the
Hudson Bay to the sunny beaches of
Louisiana, they suffered, bled and died.

It is said the Jesuits have a genius for
selecting sites, and certainly the situation
of their especial church and adjoining
colleges bears out the statement. Like
the other churches of this most Catholic
city, it is not complete, the towers having

68 FRENCH CANADA.

yet to be continued into spires. It is
much frequented for the fine music and
admired for its beautiful interior. It is in
the Florentine Renaissance style, which
is the one usually favoured by this Order.
The frescoes are unusually pleasing,
being in soft tones of monochrome, the
work of eminent Roman artists, and are
reproductions of the modern German
School of Biblical scenes and from the
history of the Jesuits. There are in addi-
tion some fine paintings by the Gagliardi
brothers at Rome and others.

In the Eastern part of the city, com-
monly called the French quarter, so
purely French are the people, with tem-
peraments as gay and volatile as in Le
Beau Paris itself, is a gem of architecture
in the church of " Our Lady of Lourdes."
This chapel, reared as a visible expression
of the dogma of the Immaculate Concep-
tion, is of the Byzantine and Renaissance
type, a style frequently to be seen re-
flected from the lagoons of Venice.

" The choir and transepts terminate in
a circular domed apsis, and a large cen-

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 69

tral dome rises at the intersection of the
latter. The statue over the altar, and
whrch immediately strikes the eye, is
symbolic of the doctrine illustrated. The
Virgin is represented in the attitude
usually shown in the Spanish School of
Painters, with hands crossed upon the
breast, standing on a cloud with the
words : ' A woman clothed with the sun
and the moon under her feet.' A sin-
gularly beautiful light, thrown down
from an unseen source, casts a kind of
heavenly radiance around the figure with
fine effect.

" Some of the painting is exceedingly
good. The decoration of the church, in
gold and colours, arabesque and fifteenth
century ornament, is very beautiful and
harmonious. This building is interest-
ing as being the only one of the kind in
America."

By descending a narrow stairway,
which winds beneath the floor, is found a
shrine fitted up in imitation of the grotto
near Lourdes, in France, in which it is
said the Virgin appeared to a young

70

FRENCH CANADA.

girl, Bernadette Souberous, at which time
a miracle-working fountain is said to
have gushed out of the rock, and still
continues its wonderful cures. A goblet
of the water stands on the altar, and is
said to have powers of healing. This
underground shrine, lighted only by dim,
coloured lamps, gives a sensation of
peculiar weirdness after the light and
beauty of the structure above.

Perhaps there is no church of French
Canada of deeper interest than "Notre
4

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 71

DamedeBonsccours" On its site stood the
first place of worship built, for which
Maisonneuve himself assisted to cut and
draw the timbers, some of which are still
in existence. The name Bonsecours,
signifying succour, was given on account
of a narrow escape of the infant colony
from the Iroquois. The present building,
erected in 1771 on the old foundations,
was, until a few years ago, remarkable
for its graceful tin roof and finely-pointed
spire. The rear having since been
altered in a manner entirely out of keep-
ing with the original, which time had
"painted that sober hue which makes
the antiquity of churches their greatest
beauty," much of the charm which made
it unique has been destroyed. If it is
true that it was an act of piety on the
part of a devoted priest, it is another
proof that zeal at times outruns correct
taste.

The statue of heroic size on the new
portion of the edifice, with arms uplifted
as if in blessing, was the gift of a noble
of Brittany. It was brought over in the

72 FRENCH CANADA.

Seventeenth Century, and for two hundred
years has been the patron saint of sailors,
who ascribe to it miraculous powers. Its
ancient pews, the crutches on the walls,
and pictures which are among- the first
works of art brought to the country, sug-
gest the varied scenes which have taken
place around the old sanctuary since its
doors were first opened for worship.

The ascent of a hundred steps reveals
the daintiest and most aerial of chapels
above the roof of the church. Tiny
coloured windows, designed in lilies
and pierced hearts, a microscopic organ,
brought from France, no one knows when,
and a few rows of seats are the furnishing.
The altar, instead of the usual appearance,
is a miniature house. Its history is as
follows : — " One of the most remarkable
events in the history of the Church was
the sudden disappearance of the house
which had been inhabited by the Holy
Family at Nazareth in Galilee. This
took place in 1291. As this sacred relic
was about to be exposed to the danger of
being destroyed by the Saracen infidels,

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 73

it was miraculously raised from its foun-
dations and transported by angels to Dal-
matia, where, early in the morning-, some
peasants discovered on a small hill, a
house without foundations, half converted
into a shrine, and with a steeple like a
chapel.

The next day their venerable bishop
informed them that Our Lady had ap-
peared to him and said that this house
had been carried by angels from Nazareth,
and was the same in which she had lived ;
that the altar had been erected by the
apostles, and the statue sculptured in
cedar wood had been made by St. Luke.
Three years afterwards it again disap-
peared, its luminous journey being wit-
nessed by some Italian shepherds.

Its present position is about a mile
from the Adriatic, at Loretto, just as the
angels placed it six hundred years ago.
Millions of pilgrims visit it from all parts
of the world."

For the aerial chapel of Bonsecours, a
fac-simile has been obtained. To render
it more sacred it was placed for a period

74 FRENCH CANADA.

within the holy house, it touched its walls,
and was blessed with holy water in the
vessel from which our Lord drank. Such
is the alleged history of this shrine, and
the peculiar sanctity attached to it.

The extensive convent buildings of the
Grey Nuns and other sisterhoods are as
numerous as the churches. As the matin
bell falls on the ear in the early morning
hours, calling to prayers those who have
chosen the austerities and serenities of
convent life, it recalls to memory the noble
band of ladies of the old aristocracy who
left chateaux hoary with the traditions of
a chivalrous ancestry, and dear with the
memories of home, in the company of
rough seamen to brave the untried perils
of the ocean, a hostile country, homesick-
ness and death, to carry spiritual and
bodily healing to the savages. Their fol-
lowers keep the same vigils now among
the sins and sorrows of the bustling city.
They glide through the streets with down-
cast eyes, in sombre robes, wimple and
linen coif, bent on missions of church ser-
vice and errands of mercy, tending the

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 75

sick and suffering, and striving to win
back human wrecks to a better life.

The various sisterhoods differ in de-
grees of austerity, the Grey Nuns being
one of the least exacting. Their Found-
ling Hospital, it is said, had its origin in
a most touching circumstance. One of
the original members of the Order,
Madame d'Youville, on leaving the con-
vent gates in the middle of winter, found
frozen in the ice of a little stream that
then flowed near what is called Foundling
street, an infant with a poignard in its
heart. Since then tens of thousands of
these small outcasts have found sanctuary
and tender care within the cloister walls.

The daughter of Ethan Allan, the
founder of Vermont, died a member of
this Order.

The Carmelites are the most rigid in
their requirements of service. They are
small numerically and live behind high
walls, and renounce forever the sight of
the outside world, never leaving their
cloister, and being practically dead to
home and friends, sleeping, it is said, in
their own coffins.

76 FRENCH CANADA.

9

Instances have been known of a sister's
assuming vows of special severity, as in
the case of Jean Le Ber, of the Congrega-
tion de Notre Dame, a daughter of a mer-
chant in the town, who voluntarily lived
in solitary confinement from the year 1695
to 1714 — nineteen years of self-immola-
tion, when her couch was a pallet of straw,
and her prayers and fastings unceasing.
She denied herself everything that to us
would make life desirable or even endur-
able— sacrificed the dearest ties of kindred,
and pursued with intense fervour the self-
imposed rigours of her vocation. Yet, it
was not that in her nature she had no
love for beauty nor craving for pleasure,
for in the sacristy of the Cathedral, care-
fully preserved in a receptacle in which
are kept the vestments of the clergy, are
robes ornamented by her needle that are
simply marvels of colour, design and ex-
quisite finish. The modern robes, though
gorgeous in richly-piled velvet from the
looms of Lyons, heavy with gold work
and embroidered with angels and figures
so exquisitely wrought as to look as if

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 77

painted on ivory, yet do not compare with
that done by the fingers that were worn
by asceticism within the walls of her cell.
In the spare form, clad in thread-bare
garments, there must have been crushed
down a gorgeously artistic nature which
found visible expression in the beautifully
adorned chasubles of the priests and altar
cloths, which are solid masses of delicate
silken work on a ground of fine silver
threads, the colours and lustre of which
seem unimpaired by time. Six genera-
tions of priests have performed the sacri-
fice of the mass in these marvellously
beautiful robes, the incense from the sway-
ing censors of two hundred years have
floated around them in waves of perfume.
The taste and skill with which high-born
ladies of that time wrought tapestries to
hang on their castle walls were conse-
crated by her to religion, in devoting to
the Church, work which was fit to adorn
the royal drapings of a Zenobia.

Without the magnificence which distin-
guishes the cathedrals, some of the rural
shrines are full of interest. The church

78 FRENCH CANADA.

of Ste. Annes, an old building near the
western^end of the island, and one of the
oldest sacerdotal edifices in America, has
around it a halo of romance and piety
since the fur-trading days, being the last
church visited by the voyageurs and their
last glimpse of civilization before facing
the dangers of the pathless wilderness of
the West. At its altar these rough, half-
wild men knelt to pray and put themselves
under the protection of their titular Sainfe
Anne.

The Trappists, though rarely seen out-
side the walls of their retreat, look precisely
as did mediaeval monks of centuries ago,
with whose appearance we are familiar in
pictures of Peter the Hermit and other
zealots, who with their fiery eloquence sent
the Armies of Christendom to fight for the
Holy Sepulchre. They dress in a coarse
brown gown and cowl, with a girdle of rope,
and are under vows of perpetual silence.
They live on frugal meals of vegetables and
fruit twice a day, have the head tonsured,
and feet bare in sandals. The continued
fasts, severe flagellations, labours and medi-

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 79

tations of those anchorites make the regu-
lations governing- this order exceedingly
strict, and recall the times when kings and
emperors, in the same monkish garb,
walked barefoot to knock humbly in pen-
ance at monastery gates.

Perhaps the most unique shrine in the
province is that of Mount Rigaud, on the
banks of the Ottawa, not far from the spot
where Bollard and his band of Christian
knights lay down their lives. The moun-
tain is regarded with much superstition by
the ignorant, on account of its peculiar and
unaccountable natural phenomena, whose
origin has puzzled the most learned scien-
tists to account for. The wooded moun-
tain is crowned by what is called " The
Field of Stones," or " The Devil's Gar-
den," from a deposit of almost spherical
boulders, of so far unmeasured depth, which
cover its surface. Encircled by trees and
verdure, this strange formation of several
acres in extent is composed mainly of rock
different from the mass of the mountain,
which belongs to the same family as the
igneous mountains of the neighbouring re-

80 FRENCH CANADA.

gion. What were the causes and condi-
tions which carried this strange material to
the top of this elevation will, when they are
explained, be of intense interest. It is said
that the only other deposit similar, though
smaller in extent, is in Switzerland. Per-
haps some ancient glacier, through eons of
time, gradually melted here, and slowly de-
posited the drift it had borne from regions
far away.

A bold spur of the hill has been convert-
ed into a shrine, adorned with images, while
on the bare rough sides of the lichen-
covered rocks have been inscribed in large
white letters the words " Penitence — Peni-
tence." At regular intervals on the stony
road approaching it are what are called the
" Stations of the Cross." They are four-
teen in number, being little chapels made
from the uncut stones of the " Devil's Gar-
den." The floors of these, on which the
penitents kneel before pictures of the
" Passion," are covered with sand and
coarse gravel.

The conquest of Canada in 1759 by the
English differed from that of Britain by the

CATHEDRALS AND CLOISTERS. 81

Norman French in 1066, in that here the
vanquished were allowed to retain their
language, customs and full religious liber-
ties, so that, after a lapse of one hundred
and fifty years, the Papal service is solem-
nized with all the pomp and ceremonial of
the Vatican, and in the courts, the Quebec
Legislature and in Society is heard the
euphonic French speech, and, outside of
Rome, Canada is considered the chief bul-
wark of Papacy.

THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE.

THE conquest and settlement of all
new regions are necessarily more or
less written in blood, and the natural char-
acteristics of the North American Indian
have caused much of the early history of
Canada to be traced in deeds of horror and
agony lighted by the torture fire, with suf-
ferings the most exquisite of which the hu-
man mind can conceive. When these were
inflicted on individuals, it was sufficiently
heartrending, but when a whole commu-
nity fell a victim to their ferocity, as was
the case in what is called " The Massacre
of Lachine," the details are too horrible
for even the imagination to dwell upon.
Standing on the river bank, or " shooting "
the rapids in the steamer, with the green
shores as far as the eye can reach dotted
with villages and villas, the wonderful
bridges spanning the stream, and beyond,
the great city with its domes and spires, it
can scarcely be realized that for two days

THE MASSACRE OF LAGHINE. 83

and two nights the spot was a scene of the
most revolting- carnage. It was an even-
ing in the summer of i689. In spite of a
storm of wind and rain which broke over
the young settlement, the fields of grain
and meadows looked cheerful and thrifty.
In each cabin home the father had returned
from the day's toil in the harvest field and
was sitting by the fireside, where the kettle
sang contentedly. The mother sat spin-
ning or knitting, and perhaps singing a lul-
laby, as she rocked the cradle, little reck-
ing that ere the morning dawned the ham-
let would lie in ashes, and the tomahawk of
the Indian be buried in her babies' hearts ;
but such was the case, for after forty-eight
hours of fiendish cruelty, death and desola-
tion reigned for miles along the shores.
Where the blue smoke had curled up
among the trees were only the smoking
ruins of hearths and homes, surrounded with
sights and suggestions of different forms of
death, which even the chronicler, two hun-
dred years after, is fain to pass by in shud-
dering silence.

The crumbling remains of a fortified

84 FRENCH CANADA.

seigniorial chateau, within sight of the Ra-
pids of Lachine, a tradition asserts, was in
the year 1668 the home of La Salle, who
was one of the most excellent men of his
day. Leaving his fair demesne, which the
Sulpicians had conferred upon him, and the
home which to-day is slowly falling to decay
among the apple- orchards along the river
side, he too followed his thirst for adventure
into untrodden fields.

There is a well-founded legend that the
old chimney attached thereto was built by
Champlain in his trading post of logs. It
is of solid masonry, and is sixty years older
than the walls which surround it. The wide
fireplace has a surface of fifty square feet,
and is the most interesting piece of archi-
tecture in all Canada. The snowflakes of
almost three hundred winters have fallen
into its cavernous depths since these stones
and mortar were laid. When Champlain
stood by its hearth, as its first blaze, lighted
by tinder and flint, roared up to the sky —
William Shakespeare was still writing his
sublime lines, Queen Elizabeth had lain but
twelve years in her marble tomb, and the

THE MASSACRE OF LAGHINE. g5

Chateau de Ramezay was not to be built for
a hundred years to come. Often in the two
years during which it had for La Salle the
sacredness of the home fireside, its light
must have fallen on his handsome young
face, and flowing curls, as he laid out
plans for his palisaded village, and dreamt
of the golden lands towards the setting sun.
He was a true patriot, and literally gave his
life for the advancement of his country, be-
ing murdered in the Lower Mississippi by
one of his own men while endeavouring to
extend its territory.

Posterity is not true to the memory
of these great pioneers, for the elements
beat upon the roofless timbers, the north
wind sweeps the hearth that is mould-
ering under the rains and sunshine of the
skies they loved. In another generation all
that can be said will be — here once stood
the historic stones of the ancient fireside of
the heroes who won the wilderness for those
who have allowed this monument of their
fortitude and self-sacrifice to crumble into
dust.

La Salle had heard from some stray

86

FRENCH CANADA.

bands of Seneca Indians, who had visited
his post at Lachine, of a great river that
flowed from their hunting grounds to the
sea. Imagining it would open his way to
find the route to the golden Ind, he sold
his grant at Lachine, and in company with
two priests from the Seminary at Montreal,
and some Senecas as guides, started on
July 6th, 1669. With visions of finding for
France a clime of warmer suns and more
rich in silver and gold than Canada, he
pushed on. The priests on their return

THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 87

brought back nothing of any value except
the first map procured of the upper lake
region.

One of the most enthusiastic fellow trav-
elers of La Salle was a Franciscan, Father
Hennepin. They crossed the ocean from
France together, and probably beguiled
many an hour of the long voyage in rela-
ting their dreams of finding the treasures
hidden in the land to which the prow of
the vessel pointed.

Hennepin also penetrated to the Missis-
sippi, reaching in his wanderings a beau-
tiful fall foaming between its green bluffs
which he named St. Anthony, on which
spot now stands the " Flour City," Min-
neapolis, in the county of Hennepin, Minne-
sota. He probably heard of the other falls,
five miles away, which we know as Minne-
haha, and around which the sweetest of
American poets has woven the witchery of
Indian legend in the wooing of " Hiawa-
tha." It seems almost incredible that where
are now the largest flour mills in the world,
turning out daily about 40,000 barrels,
there was, scarcely fifty years ago, only

88 FRENCH CANADA.

the cedar strewn wigwam and smoke of
the camp fire, the tread of moccasined feet
and the dip of the paddles by the bark
canoe.

Near by Place d'Armes Square may be
seen a grey stone house on which
is written " Here lived Sieur Du-
Lutn." He was a leading spirit among
the young men of the town, who
gathered around his fireside to listen
to his thrilling tales of adventure, and
of his early life when he was a gendarme
in the King's Guard. Coming to Canada
in the year 1668, he explored among the
Sioux tribes of the Western plains. He
was one of the first Frenchmen to approach
the sources of the Mississippi. The city of
Duluth in Minnesota received its name from
him. A tablet on a modern building in the
same locality informs the passer-by that
Cadillac, who founded the City of Detroit
about the same time as the Chateau de
Ramezay was built, spent the last years of
his wandering life on this spot.

The town of Varennes, down the river?
is called from the owner of a Seigniory in

THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 89

the forest, le Chevalier Gauthier de la
Verandrye, a soldier and a trader, who was
the first to explore the great Canadian
North-West, and to discover the " Rock-
ies/" He was an undaunted and fearless
traveler, establishing post after post, as far
as the wild banks of the Saskatchewan and
even further north, which, in giving to
France, he ultimately gave to Canada.

" Honour to those who fought the trees,
And won the land for us."

The traditions connected with the Cha-
teau de Ramezay are scarcely more inter-
esting than those surrounding many spots
in the vicinity. Incorporated in this pro-
saic, business part of the 'city are many an
old gable or window, which were once part
of some mediaeval chapel or home of these
early times. On the other side of Notre
Dame street, where now stands the classic
and beautiful pile called the City Hall, were
to be seen in those days the church and
" Habitation" as it was called, of the Jesuit
Fathers, within whose walls lived many
learned sons of Loyola, Charlevoix among
others. They were burnt down in 1803,,

90

FRENCH CANADA.

at the same time as the Chateau de Vau-
dreuil was destroyed, by one of the disas-
trous fires which have so frequently swept
the cities of Montreal and Quebec, and in
which many quaint historical structures dis-
appeared. About a mile to the west is still
standing the family residence of Daniel
Hyacinthe, Marie Lienard de Beaujeu, the
hero of the Monongahela, at which battle
George Washington was an officer.

It was a lamentable event, the indiscrim-
inate slaughter of three thousand men
through the stupidity and incredible ob-

ff

THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 91

stancy of General Braddock, who, like Dies-
kau at a subsequent time, despising- the
counsel of those familiar with Indian me-
thods of warfare, determinedly followed his
own plans

Washington in this engagement held the
rank of Adjutant-General of Virginia. " His
business was to inform the French that they
were building forts on English soil, and that
they would do well to depart peaceably."

Beaujeu was sent at the head of a force
composed of French soldiers and Indian
allies to answer the Briton with the power-
ful argument of force of arms.

" As Braddock reached the ford over the
river which was to put him on the same side
as the fort, Colonel Thomas Gage crossed
in advance, without opposition. Beaujeu
had intended to contest the passage, but his
Indians being refractory, his march was de-
layed. Gage with the advance was push-
ing on when his engineer saw a man, appa-
rently an officer, wave his cap to his fol-
lowers, who were unseen in the woods.
From every vantage ground of knoll and
bole, and on three sides of the column, the

92 FRENCH CANADA.

concealed muskets were levelled upon the
English, who returned the fire. As Beau-
jeu fell, Dumas, who succeeded him,
thought that the steady front of the red-
skins was going to carry the day, until he
saw his Canadians fly, followed by the In-
dians, after Gage had wheeled his cannon
on the woods. A little time, however,
changed all this. The Indians rallied and
poured their bullets into the massed and
very soon confused British troops. Brad-
dock, when he spurred forward, found
everybody demoralized except the Virgin-
ians, who were firing from the tree trunks,
as the enemy did. The British General
was shocked at such an unmilitary habit,
and ordered them back into line. No one
under such orders could find cover, and
every puff from a concealed Indian was
followed by a soldier's fall. No exertion
of Braddock, nor of Washington, nor of
any one prevailed. The General had four
horses shot under him and Washington
had two. Still the hillsides and the depths
of the wood were spotted by puffs of
smoke, and the slaughter-pen was in a

THE MASSACRE OF LACHINE. 93

turmoil — scarce one Englishman in three
escaped bullets. The commander then
gave the sign to retreat, and was endea-
vouring to restore order when a ball struck
him from his horse. The British Army
had become bewildered fugitives, and a
guard could hardly be kept for the wound-
ed General, as he was borne along on a
horse as a litter.

The sinking Braddock at last died and
was buried in the road, that the tramp of
the surging mass of men might obliterate
his grave. His remains are said to have
been discovered in 1823 by some work-
men engaged in constructing the National
road, at a spot pointed out by an old man
who had been in the ranks in 1755. He
claimed to have seen Braddock buried, and
to have fired the bullet that killed him.
It was impossible to identify the remains
almost seventy years after their interment,
but with them were found bits of military
trappings, so his tale may have been cor-
rect. In the year 1841, near to the spot,
was discovered a large quantity of shot
and shell left by the retreating army.

6

94 FRENCH CANADA.

Adjoining the grounds of the Chateau
de Ramezay was the mansion of General
Ralph Burton, who fought close to Wolfe
in the siege of Quebec, to whom his dying
words were spoken, and who carried out
his last command, which decided the day.
As Wolfe lay half unconscious, the riot of
the battle growing dull on his failing
senses, they were roused by the cry,
" They run ! ' He opened his glazed
eyes and asked, "Who run?" and the
reply was, "The French ! " With a su-
preme effort he turned to Burton, and
ordered him, saying, "Command Webb
to march down to the St. Charles and cut
off the retreat at the bridge " ; and then
amid the crash and carnage of war, he
murmured, " Now I thank God, and die
contented," and instantly expired.

THE CHATEAU DE VAUDREUIL.

S H O RT distance to the south-west is
the spot on which stood the Chateau
and famous gardens of the Marquis de
Vaudreuil, the last French Governor of
Canada. Imagination can forget the miles
of docks and warehouses, the electricity
and commerce with which we are entering
the twentieth century, and fancy it sees
again the old vice-regal palace, a minia-
ture in Canadian forests of the gay court
at the Tuilleries, with its bewitchment of
lace, silk and velvet, powdered wigs and
the exaggerated politeness and exquisite
bows of la grande dame and le chevalier of
the time.

Let us step back to the winter of 1758
and '59. The mountain is snow-capped
and the St. Lawrence is frozen several feet
thick, making good roads for the shaggy
Canadian pony and cariole, or heavy trai-
neau with wooden runners. In the early
winter's evening, lights gleam through

96 FRENCH CANADA.

the small windows of the earthen citadel
which guards the Porte St*. Martin, and
the clash of arms or halberds, and the
pacing of the sentries' footsteps, are heard
at every closed gate of the little walled
town. Patches of warm light from candle
and hearth checker the snow which lies
glistening on the sidewalks, for there are
no street lamps on the St. Paul, St. Mary
or Notre Dame streets of these old days.

Under the night sky, the storehouses
look like gloomy prisons, but cheerful
groups talk and laugh, as the beaux and
belles bend their steps along the narrow
streets to the Governor's salon. As the
guests of the Marquis de Vaudreuil assem-
ble, the brilliance of their costumes is
heightened in effect by the gorgeous livery
of the attendants and the blue and white
of the soldiers' regimentals. Groups around
the spindle-legged card tables exchange
bon-mots and play, while others dance and
promenade on the polished floors until the
morning light breaks over the river.

The gaiety and frivolity, feasting and
gossip are in strange contrast to the grey

TEE CHATEAU DE VAUDREUIL.

97

gown of the Jesuit priest hurrying from
the monastery opposite, to shrive some
sinner, or to administer " Extreme
Unction " to some dying saint. Within
the convent walls pious sisters, followers
of Mademoiselle Mance and Madame
d'Youville, tend the sick and unfortunate,
whom the tide of life has cast upon this
far away shore. From the taverns on
the corners and on the river front comes

98 FRENCH CANADA.

the sound of mirth and merriment, as
with the cup of good Gascon wine are
passed around tales of the high seas or of
times gone by in the old-world towns of
Brittany.

On the altars of the chapels lights burn
dimly in a silence unbroken, save by the
murmuring of prayers and telling of beads
by suppliants driven hither by sin, sorrow
or homesickness.

A narrow little street, named St.
Amable, running west from the Gover-
nor's mansion, has been subjected to so
little change since those days of long ago
that the passer-by on its two feet of side-
walk sees it just as it was when its vault-
ed warehouses held the cargoes of
the weather-beaten sailing craft that
anchored at the shore below. Where
now the French habitant sits chattering
with his confreres and smoking his pipe
filled with home-grown tabac were once
the shady walks and stiff parterres of the
ancient garden. Here, under the summer
moons, were doubtless stolen meetings as
sweet, vows as insincere, and intrigues as

COPYRIGHT.

RUE ST. AMABLE.

THE CHATEAU DE VAUDREUIL. 99

foolish as those in the exquisite bowers of
Le Petit Trianon at Versailles. On its
paths have fallen the martial tread of " de
Levis, de Beaujeu, and many a brave sol-
dier and dainty courtier, official guests at
the Governor's Chateau." Among them
was one who eclipsed all others in sad
interest, the courtly young commander,
Louis Joseph Saint Veran de Montcalm.
Any spot associated with this ill-fated
general is of immortal memory. After his
skillful manoeuvering at the battle of
Carillon, his march to Montreal was a
triumph. At the close of this engage-
ment, as, accompanied by de Levis and
his staff, he rode along the ranks, thank-
ing his troops, who idolized him, in the
name of their king, for their glorious dis-
play of French valour in a field where
thirty-six hundred men had for six hours
withstood fifteen thousand, he was in
every particular a worthy and capable
general. He spoke of his own share in
the glory of the day with simplicity and
modesty, writing the next day to Vau-
dreuil : —

100 FRENCH CANADA.

" The only credit I can claim as accru-
ing to me is the glory of commanding
troops so valorous."

On one occasion, the capture of Os-
wego, which is described as the most bril-
liant military exploit then known in
Canadian history, he with his own hand
snatched the colours from a British officer
and sent the trophy to Quebec, to adorn
the walls of the Cathedral of that city ; as
many a time before had been done for old-
world Minsters by knights on the battle-
fields of Europe, whose empty armour now
hangs in the baronial halls of England.

Montcalm had been summoned to
Montreal to confer with the Governor on
the further conduct of the war, and, as he
marched forth to take command of the
Citadel of Quebec, all hearts centred on
him, saying, " Save for France her
fair dominion in the West ; " but the
gallant soldier, in his endeavour to do
so, met his tragic and untimely end.

Entrenched behind the ramparts of
Quebec, he prepared for the great
struggle which was to decide the fortunes

THE CHATEAU DE VAUDREUIL.

101

of the then two foremost powers of
Europe. He and de Levis, although a
considerable distance from each other,
had seventeen thousand men under their
command, with a splendid line of fortifi-
cations running from Montmorenci to the
St. Charles, supplementing the granite
defences of the Citadel. Montcalm being
in doubt for some time at what point to
look for attack from the enemy, sent or-
ders along the whole line for his troops to

102

FRENCH CANADA.

be in perfect readiness everywhere. He
was several years older than Wolfe, and
was an old campaigner, having served his
king with honour and distinction in Ger-
many, Italy and Bohemia.

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS,

IT was the evening of the I2th of Sept.,
1759. The French troops were on the
alert, — the British ready. The evening
was calm and fine and the occasion full of
solemnity as Wolfe embarked in a boat
to visit some of his posts. As the oars
dipped softly in the stream, and the quiet
dusk of the autumn twilight hid the grim
signs of war and brought out the peace-
ful beauty of the scene, he thought of
the morrow — that where

" Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,"

would be rent by the roar of cannon, the
flash of bloody steel and the cries of the
wounded and dying.

Feeling perhaps a shrinking from the
great crisis which the dawn would bring,
he repeated to the officers and midship-
men within hearing a number of the
verses from the most finished poem in the
English language, Grey's " Elegy in a

104 FRENCH CANADA.

Country Churchyard," and which had
appeared a short time before. Probably
the lines on which he lingered longest
were :—

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour ;

The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

The last line was, alas ! prophetic in
his own case, and he may have had
some premonition of it, for turning to his
listeners, who were to share with him
victory or defeat, he said with a wistful
pathos in his young voice, " I would
prefer being the author of that poem to
the glory of beating the French to-

morrow."

He did not dream that for what that
morrow would bring, his name, with
that of the poet he loved, would be
carven among those of England's great
men in Westminster Abbey —
" Where thro' the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise."

Landing in a ravine (Wolfe's Cove),
which he had located by the use of a
glass — with the strategic venture at

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. 105

which all the world has since wondered
— in the dark hours of the same night, he,
at the head of the famous Eraser High-
landers, placed his force on the Plains of
Abraham, each man knowing it was vic-
tory or death, as there was no possibility
of retreat.

The intelligence of the landing of the
British troops was first brought to the
Governor-General, the Marquis de Vau-
dreuil, and he had the task of communi-
cating the unwelcome news to Mont-
calm, who had hurried from his quar-
ters on the ramparts to ascertain what
was the meaning of the firing above the
town.

On learning the situation, he bitterly
exclaimed :—

" They have at least got to the weak
side of this miserable garrison, and,
therefore, we must endeavour to crush
them by our numbers before 12 o'clock."

Montcalm, with more courage than
discretion, without waiting for de Levis,
who was twenty-eight miles away, — the
victim of an inexorable destiny, unsup-

106

FRENCH CANADA.

ported led forth his men, and saw, not
without surprise, the whole British Army
ranged in battle array. Without giving
his men time to recover breath after the
fatigue of their laborious and hurried
march, he went into action, trusting to
the well-tested courage of his troops.

Wolfe led the charge at the head of
the Louisburg Grenadiers, and when the
Highlanders, throwing away their mus-
kets, rushed on with their broad swords

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. 107

like a tempest of steel, the hapless blue
coats, though lacking in neither prowess
nor patriotism, fled in all directions. The
two young leaders fell almost simul-
taneously.

When Wolfe received his death wound,
he was in a conspicuous spot near the
Redoubt, and was thence borne to the
rear. He had calmly prepared for this
contingency. He had made his will, of
which he appointed Sir Guy Carleton the
executor, and for whom he had early
formed a close friendship, generally
speaking of him as " My friend Carle-
ton," and to whom he bequeathed his
books and papers. His plate he willed
to Saunders, and to another friend he
entrusted the miniature of his betrothed
with the charge of returning it to her
in the event of his fall. That was pro-
bably the most trying moment of those
hours so fraught with tragedy — a mo-
ment like those on the eve of Waterloo,
when there were
" Partings that crush the life from out young hearts.'1

It was not in his martial cloak nor in

108 FRENCH CANADA.

his country's flag that he was carried dead
off the field, but in the tartan "plaidie "
of an old Highland man, named Mc-
Leod, which was tenderly wrapped around
him, wet with tears from eyes to which
tears had long been strangers.

As he fell, his principal care was for the
effect it would have upon his troops, who,
down to the humblest in his command,
had caught his spirit, and who felt that
" they must fulfil the trust reposed in
them, or die in the ranks."

Leaning against the shoulder of the
officer who caught him when falling, he im-
plored him to support him, saying, " Do
not let my brave soldiers see me drop, the
day is ours, keep it ! " A death attended
with circumstances more pathetic or inci-
dents more picturesque the annals of war
do not record.

" The capture of Quebec was an achieve-
ment of so formidable a character, so dis-
tinguished by chivalrous enterprise, and so
fraught with singular adventure, that the
interest attending it still remains undimmed
and its glorious recollections unfaded."

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. 109

The virtues and heroism of the youthful
leader of the campaign and the bravery of
his troops, whose toast was " The British
flag on every fort, post and garrison in
America/' are themes of just pride to the
lover of his country. t( Young in years
but mature in experience, Wolfe possessed
all the liberal virtues in addition to an
enthusiastic knowledge of the military art
with a sublimity of genius, always the dis-
tinguishing mark of minds above the ordin-
ary level of mankind. His celebrated
letter to Mr. Pitt is still considered un-
surpassed in military composition."

As Montcalm was carried off the field
he enquired if his wound was mortal ; on
being answered in the affirmative, with a
mental anguish keener than the intense
physical pain he was suffering, he said,
*' So much the better, I shall not live to see
the surrender of Quebec." Few scenes are
more full of sadness than his march from his
last battle-field, as supported by two
grenadiers, and passing through the St.
Louis Gate on his black charger, he
courteously greeted the weeping women
7

110 FRENCH CAXA.DA.

who lined his path, telling them not to
weep for him ; but it could not be but a
day of tears for the daughters of Quebec
as groans of mortal agony came to
their ears through the smoke and dust of
retreat.

A few hours afterward, on being visit-
ed by M. de Ramezay, who commanded
the garrison, with the title of Lieutenant
du Roy, and another officer, Montcalm
addressed them saying, " Gentlemen, I
commend to your keeping the honour of
France, — for myself, I shall pass the night
with God, and prepare myself for death."

On M. de Ramezay's pressing to receive
commands respecting the defence of Que-
bec, he exclaimed with emotion : — " I will
neither give orders nor interfere further. I
have business that must be attended to of
greater moment than your ruined garrison
and this wretched country. My time is very
short, so pray leave me ; I wish you all
comfort, and to be happily extricated from
your present difficulties."

Before expiring, he paid a noble tribute
to his late foes, when he said : —

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. Ill

"Since it was my misfortune to be dis-
comfited and mortally wounded, it is a
great consolation to me to be vanquished
by so brave and generous an enemy. If
I could survive this wound, I would en-
gage to beat three times the number of
such forces as I commanded this morning
with a third of such troops as were opposed
to me."

Almost his last conscious act was to
write a letter praying the English victors
to show clemency to the French prisoners.

It is said that a fissure ploughed by a
cannon ball within the walls of the Ursu-
line Convent furnished him a fitting sol-
dier's grave.

One of the sisterhood, an eye-witness of
the event, described the burial in the fol-
lowing touching and graphic words : —

" At length it was September, with its
lustrous skies and pleasant harvest scenes.
The city was destroyed, but it was not
taken. Would not the early autumn, so
quickly followed by winter, force the
enemy to withdraw their fleet ? For sev-
eral days the troops which had been so long

112 FRENCH CANADA.

idle were moving in various directions
above and below Quebec, but they were
watched and every point guarded, but no
one dreamed of the daring project the in-
trepid Wolfe was meditating. The silence
of the night told no tale of the stealthy
march of five thousand soldiers. The
echoes of the high cliff only brought to the
listening boatmen the necessary password.
No rock of the shelving precipice gave
way under the cat-like tread of the High-
landers accustomed to the crags of their
native hills, but the morning light glittered
on serried rows of British bayonets, and
in an hour the battle of the Plains changed
the destinies of New France. The remnant
of the French army, after turning many
times on their pursuers, completely disap-
peared. Their tents were still standing on
the Plains of Beauport, but their batteries
were silent and trenches empty — their
guns still pointed, but were mute.

" At nine o'clock in the evening a funeral
cortege issuing from the castle, wound its
way through the dark and obstructed
streets to the little church of the Ursulines.

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. 113

The measured foot steps of the military es-
cort kept time with the heavy tread of the
bearers, as the officers of the garrison
followed the lifeless remains of their illus-
trious commander-in-chief to their last rest-
ing place. No martial pomp was displayed
around that humble bier and rough wooden
box, which were all the ruined city could
afford the body of her defender ; but no
burial rite could be more solemn than that
hurried evening service performed by
torchlight under the war-scarred roof of
the Convent, as with tears and sighs were
chanted the words ' Libera me Dom-
ine.'"

Some years ago an Englishman, Lord
Aylmer, caused to be placed within the
convent enclosure a tablet with the words
carved in marble : —

Honneur

a

Montcalm.
Le Destin en lui derobant

La Victoire,

L'a recompense par

Une Mort Glorieuse.

114 FRENCH CANADA.

Or, Honor to Montcalm. Fate denied him
victory, but rewarded him with a glorious
death. Byroa expresses a similar senti-
ment when he said : —

" They never fail who die in a good cause."

On the spot where Wolfe fell has been
raised a simple shaft on which is written : —

" Here Wolfe died victorious,

Sept, 1 3th, 1759,
In the thirty-fourth year of his age."

The stone which formed his death couch
is preserved in its original position, but
sunk beneath the ground to protect it from
the ravages of the relic hunter. The
column is supported on a pedestal of rocks
formed of boulders from the scene of the
battle, conspicuous among which may be
seen the actual rock upon which Wolfe
was supported when he breathed his last.
The stones of the monument are strongly
cemented together, embedded in the solid
foundation of rock, and will be as enduring
as the fame of him whose name it bears.

The well near by, from which the water

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. 115

was brought to allay his thirst, was filled
up and obliterated some years ago, much
to the regret of those who venerated the
immortal incident connected with it, and
which placed it among the historic shrines
of the world.

Associated with Wolfe, and a sharer in
the glory of the capture of Quebec, was
Charles Saunders, commander of the
squadron. By bombarding the town, he
kept the enemy in a state of constant and

116 FRENCH CANADA.

anxious alarm, at the same time showing
wonderful skill in cleverly protecting his
fleet from disaster ; even when threatened
by fire-ships sent to destroy it, which were
grappled by the British sailors and run
aground.

Among those who rendered signal ser-
vice to Admiral Saunders when he neared
Quebec was the famous navigator, Cap-
tain Cook. He was the pilot who con-
ducted the boats to the attack at Mont-
morency on July 3ist, 1759? and managed
the disembarkment at the Heights of
Abraham.

The great mariner, while engaged in his
celebrated voyages of discovery, was mur-
dered by South Sea Islanders at Owhyhee
on the 14th of Feby., 1779. He had been
sent by the British Government to find if
the discovery of the North- West passage,
which seemed impossible by the Atlantic,
were feasible by the Pacific Ocean ; for
which purpose he had to round the south-
ern part of the entire American Continent.
He was on the point of abandoning the
project and returning home when he met

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAIN 8. Hf

his terrible death, " leaving a name unsur-
passed for gallantry by any sea-faring man
of his time."

In the month of October Saunders' fleet
dropped silently down the river. On one
of the ships was the embalmed body of
James Wolfe, returning to the land he had
served so well, but where alas ! he would
never hear the acclamations with which his
fellow countrymen, from the palace to the
cabin, would lay the laurel wreath upon
his tomb, — the paths of glory had truly led
but to the grave !

Saunders on his return was appointed
Lieutenant-General of Marine, and on
taking his seat as a member of the House
of Commons received the thanks of the
Speaker. He became Knight Commander
of the Bath, and on his death was buried
in Westminster Abbey near to the Monu-
ment of Wolfe.

Of the regiments to whom England
owes the Conquest of Canada, the Scotch
claim the greatest share of glory. " Hardy
sons of mountain and heather, they were
in fact the flower of the army, the boldest

118 FRENCH CANADA.

in attack, the fiercest at close quarters, the
last to retreat at command, and always the
bravest of the brave in the forefront of
England's battles."

The kilted " laddies " from beyond the
Grampians, in their *£ braw " plumed bon-
nets, with their war-pipes lilting above the
loudest din of war, have met some of
the fiercest onslaughts singing and step-
ping to the blood-stirring strains of " Scots
wha ha'e wi' Wallace bled."

An eye-witness of their march out of
Brussels on that beautiful June morning in
1815, the dawn of Waterloo, says :

" One could not but admire their fine
appearance, their steady military de-
meanour, with their pipes playing before
them, and the beams of the rising sun
shining on their glittering arms." Many
of the young officers were in the silk
stockings and dancing pumps which they
wore the night before to the Duchess of
Richmond's ball, when they laughed ; —

" On with the dance, let joy be unconfined,
No sleep till morn when youth and beauty meet,
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet."

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAIN8. 119

With swords waving, the pibroch
screaming and the te stirring memories of a
thousand years," they rushed into the
stupendous conflict leading the "Forty-
two," into the field, which the setting of
the same sun saw drenched through with
blood, but marked by deeds which cov-
ered with glory many a thatched ingle-nook
on highland hills and in lowland valleys.

After the Conquest of Canada, the
Eraser Highlanders with the remains of
the 42nd were offered grants of land if
they chose to remain as settlers, a privilege
which many of them accepted. Sixteen
years afterward, when a foreign invasion
threatened Canada, they loyally left the
plough in the furrow and again sprang
to arms, to protect their altars and fire-
sides.

Among the blue Laurentian hills of the
lower St. Lawrence, around their simple
hearths, their descendants live the placid
life of the Canadian habitant. They bear
the old historic names of their Gaelic fore-
fathers,— Fraser, Cameron, Blackburn,
MacDonald, etc. — but in nothing else could

120 FRENCH CANADA.

it be thought that in their veins runs the
blood of those who fought at Colloden
and Bannockburn. They are as purely
French in their religion, language and cus-
toms, as those whose sires sailed from
Breton and Norman ports.

The Commandant of Quebec at the
time of its fall was the son of Claude de
Ramezay, the builder of the Chateau of
that name. After the disastrous battle,
Vaudreuil, Governor of Montreal, sent him
urgent charges to do his utmost to hold
out until reinforcements, which were on a
forced march from Montreal and elsewhere,
should arrive to his succour ; but, the be-
sieged being in the greatest extreme of
fright and starvation, his force refused to
fight. His conduct has been much criti-
cized, but one annalist asserts that he was
" not the man to shrink from danger or
death had there been anything but fool-
hardiness in the risk, as he belonged to
the good old fighting stock of North
Britain," — the race which produced a Wal-
lace and a Bruce. He, however, signed
the articles of capitulation, as recommended

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. 121

by the Council of War summoned, and
the British marched in through the iron-
spiked gates, — when, had he held out only
twenty-four hours longer, Canada might
have been saved for France, as the British
could not for any length of time have
maintained their position on the Plains
of Abraham. Returning to France, where
he was related to several families of the
Noblesse, who held that " war was the
only worthy calling, and prized honour
more than life," he received so cool a
reception at Court that his proud spirit,
being unable to brook the humiliation, he
applied for a passport allowing him to return
to Canada, bat subsequently he abandoned
the idea of returning to his native land.
Had he carried out his intention, he might
have seen French, English and American
flags successively wave over the red roof
of the Chateau of his boyhood.

To complete the conquest, Montreal
was attacked at three different points by
Generals Amherst, Murray and Haldi-
mand. Arriving within a few hours of
each other, they camped outside of the

122 FRENCH CANADA.

old walls of the town. Vaudreuil and de
Levis tried to oppose them, but with
Quebec lost, and the only defences a rude
citadel and weak walls built to resist
Indian attack and useless in civilized war-
fare, they were compelled to surrender.
A small stone cottage, until quite recently
standing in a private garden on the moun-
tain side, was used as Amherst's head-
quarters, and in which the articles of
capitulation were signed between the
victorious and vanquished generals.

Among those who entered the town
with Amherst was Israel Putnam, a man
who had been brought into Montreal a
year before a prisoner by the French.
He had great physical strength and deci-
sion of character, and was absolutely in-
capable of fear. On the breaking out of
the Revolutionary War, he entered with
zeal into the cause of the colonists, and
lead them in the battle of Bunker Hill.
True to his convictions, he refused the
large sums of money offered him by the
British for his services. By the American
troops he was lovingly called " Old Put."

THE BATTLE OF THE PLAINS. 123

On his tombstone was inscribed : — " He
dared to lead where any dared to follow."
As the British entered the city by the
old Recollet Monastery gate, the French
retired to la Citadelle, a strong wood block
house at the other end of the town.
General Haldimand was the First English-
man to enter within the walls, remains of
which are still frequently dug up in excavat-
ing. The oldest Ensign in Amherst's army
received the French colours, and it is said
the keys of the city were given over by
a woman, but it is recorded with certainty
that the fallen foes were treated with the
greatest consideration and respect, not even
the Indian allies being permitted to commit
a single act of violence. " Amherst com-
manded the principal division, including
the ' Black Watch,' or gallant 42nd, which
has been renowned in military story
wherever the British flag has been borne
to victory for more than a hundred and
forty years." At Waterloo, Corunna,
Alma and Lucknow, in Afghan defiles and
Egyptian deserts, they were always in the
thickest of the fight.

124

FRENCH CANADA.

It is said, Pitt, wanting a safe and sure
officer to command them, chose what he
called a stubborn Colonel, who had shown
his mettle in Germany, and made him
Major-General Amherst.

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH
RULE.

/TENERAL James Murray, the son of
V-/ Lord Elibank, was appointed the
first British Governor of Canada. Pre-
vious to the fall of Montreal, de Levis,
refusing to consider the cause of France
lost on the St. Lawrence, valiantly re-
solved on an attack on General Murray
at Quebec. The news of his advance
was conveyed to Murray by a " half-
frozen cannonier, whom the British
troops carried up Mountain Hill in a
sailor's hammock."-— April 26th, 1760.
Hearing of this unfortunate circum-
stance, which gave up to the enemy his
intention of taking him unawares, de
Levis hurriedly led his men under the
walls of the city, where Murray, promptly
coming out to meet him, the battle
of " Ste. Foye " took place, when the
French this time saw their efforts crown-
ed with success, the British having to
8

126 FRENCH CANADA.

find a shelter within the walls of the old
Citadel. The French leader was too
weak to operate a regular siege, so
remained camped on the battle-field,
awaiting the reinforcements expected.

One bright sunny morning it was her-
alded on all sides that a fleet had been
signalled, and the joy of the French
troops knew no bounds ; but, alas ! for
them it was found out but too soon that

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE. 127

the ships were under England's flag.
Instead of de Levis receiving the assist-
ance he required, it came to the already
victorious Briton. It but remained,
therefore, for him to retire in haste to
Montreal, where, being soon followed up
by the enemy and surrounded on all sides,
he had to submit to the dictates of fate,
as already stated.

He affixed his name to the Articles of
Capitulation, with, it is said, the docu-
ment placed against a tree at the head of
St. Helen's Island.

De Levis, although blamed for his
unsoldierlike act in the destruction of his
regimental colours, was, nevertheless, a
fine specimen of the long line of chival-
rous nobles, whose names and deeds em-
blazon French chronicles of field and
foray since the days when Charlemagne
wore his iron crown. Deeply chagrined
at the refusal of the British to allow the
garrison to march out with the honours
of war, although high-spirited to a fault,
he humbled himself to pray in writing for
the reversal of the order. It may have

128 FRENCH CANADA.

been in the salon of the Chateau that the
representatives of the two knights stood
face to face as suppliant and arbiter.
Their fathers may have crossed swords
at Crecy, when the Plantagenet Prince
bore off the feathered crest which was
to be the insignia of all future first-born
sons of English kings, or they may
have tilted with lance and pennon on
the Field of the Cloth of Gold ; but here
de Levis, with his petition sternly denied,
was forced to retire in anger, filled with
humiliation at the failure of his inter-
cession.

It may be imagined with what con-
flicting emotions he entered the following
words in his journal :—

" The British sent a detachment to
Place <£ Armes with artillery, whither our
battalions marched one after another, to
lay down their arms, and the enemy took
possession of the posts and watches of
the city." As they filed past the
Chateau, which was on their line of
march, many a heavy heart beat beneath
the blue coats, and when a few days

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE. 129

later they embarked with their chief for
France, even valour need not have been
ashamed if tears dimmed the sight of the
English colours flying from their flag
staff's, and the fair land fading from their
sight forever.

The Chateau de Vaudreuil was then
dismantled of its treasures of fine china
and specimens of the arts revived in what
is known as the Renaissance, when every-
thing that was exquisite in painting,
sculpture, working in metals, and art in
all its forms had received such an impetus
from the Italian artists whom Louis the
Fourteenth gathered around his court,
as well as from the influence of Madame
de Pompadour, whose taste, unhappily,
far exceeded her morals. It was pur-
chased by Chartier de Lotbiniere, and it
is pleasant to chronicle that a few years
ago his direct descendant, M. de Lery
Macdonald, while visiting France, had
the honour of meeting la Comtesse de
Clairemont-Tonnerre, the last living
representative of the De Vaudreuil family,
who graciously presented to him the

130 FRENCH CANADA.

" Croix St. Louis" which had been be-
stowed upon the first Vaudreuil who held
an official position in Canada, which
relic is now to be seen in the Chateau de
Ramezay.

The old fortifications of Ville Marie
were planned by a de Lery ; he, and the
military engineer who traced out his
campaigns with Bonaparte, and whom
he called the " Immortel General" were
members of this family, in the possession
of which are priceless old tapestries,
which were gifts from royalty as rewards
of diplomatic or personal services.

About a year after the evacuation of
Quebec, Murray was sitting in the chilli-
ness of an October evening by the chim-
ney meditating. As he gazed at the
glowing fire of maple logs, he may have
fancied that he saw again the face of his
dead commander, and may have thought
of that desperate charge outside the
gates — of the shouts of victory and cries
of defeat — where then the only sound to
be heard was the wind rustling the with-
ered grass that had been dyed red in the

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE. 131

blood of so many gallant young hearts.
The soldier's face may have softened as
he thought of the old hearthstone among
the heather hills, where tales of the
Border and the traditions of his clan had
fired his young soul for the glory of con-
quest.

He was 'suddenly aroused from his
dream by the announcement that two
warlike frigates were sailing below the
cliffs. He hurried to the bastion, which
commanded the spot, to survey what
might portend fresh struggles and more
bloodshed. But soon a standard was
run up to the masthead, unfolding to the
breeze the flag of England. Imme-
diately from the ramparts, where so re-
cently had proudly floated the flag of
France, an answering signal was shown,
and, as the guns roared out a salute to
the British colours, it was also a farewell
honour to the old Regime, which has
passed away forever from Canadian
shores.

Of Murray, the first British Governor
of Canada, it has been said that, in the

132 FRENCH CANADA.

long roll of unblemished good service, in
the record of his honourable fidelity to
his trust and duty, no passage of his life
stands out in brighter colours than this
period, during which he turned a deaf
ear to intolerance and the spirit of perse-
cution, and strove to show the new sub-
jects of the Crown how truly beneficent,
just and good, with all its errors, the rule
of Great Britain had ever proved to be.

With the Treaty of Paris in 1763 King
George III. abolished the French laws,
substituting for them the English Code
in the newly won Dominion ; later on,
however, by the " Quebec Act," they
were restored to the Canadians.

The members of the Noblesse, whose
ties compelled their remaining in Canada,
sent to London to offer fealty to King
George, and thus further their personal
interests.

When the Chevalier de Lery and
his wife, the beautiful Louise de Brou-
ages, one of the most lovely women of
her day, were presented at the Court
of St. James, the young Sovereign was

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE. 133

so struck with her beauty that he gal-
lantly exclaimed :—

" If all Canadian ladies resemble her,
we have indeed made a conquest."
A French writer of the time says :—
" How can we sufficiently deplore the
loss of Canada, with all its present value
and with all its future hope — a possession
of which all the difficulties were already
overcome, and of which the consequent
advantages were secure and within reach !
That loss might have been guarded
against — yes, that land consecrated by
the blood of a Montcalm, a Jumonville,
and so many brave Frenchmen who
shared their dangers, and were united
with them in fate — that country honoured
with the name of New France — that
country where we may yet trace her chil-
dren enjoying the manners and customs
of their forefathers — that country might
yet have existed under its rightful princes,
if the Cabinet of Versailles had known
the true position it held — had erected
there a new throne and had placed upon
it a Prince of the Royal Family — it

134 FRENCH CANADA.

would have ruled to-day over that vast
region, and preserved the treasures
vainly spent in its defence."

After the conquest the Chateau de
Ramezay was saved from being a mere
fur-trading post by becoming the city
residence of the Baron de Longueuil, a
Canadian feudal lord, the towers, em-
battlements and chapel of whose castle
were visible on the south side of the
river. The founder of this house, which
to-day holds the only hereditary feudal
barony of Canada, was Charles Le-
Moyne, who came to Canada in 1642
with Maisonneuve. This man was the
son of an innkeeper at Dieppe (France),
who it is alleged was descended from a
younger branch of the old Norman
family of LeMoyne, the head of the
house being the Marquis de Longueuil.

Fourteen years after his arrival in Can-
ada, LeMoyne received the Seigniory of
Longueuil, he having in the meantime
amassed a considerable fortune in the
fur trade.

The eldest son, who was named after

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE. 135

his father, was born in 1656, and in
recognition of his services at a siege of
Quebec, and against the Iroquois, he was
made a Baron of France in 1700 by
Louis i4th. The old deed of nobility
is to this day in an almost perfect
condition.

An original sketch of the Chateau de
Longueuil, taken after a fire which par-
tially destroyed it in 1792, is still in
possession of the family. The Chateau,
or in reality the Castle, was built by the
first Baron in 1699, and for nearly a
hundred years sheltered the family of
LeMoyne.

It stood partly on the ground now
occupied by the front of the present
parish church of Longueuil, and partly
across the highway, at a corner of the
Chambly road. The north-west tower
was located as late as 1835, but was
covered with earth by the excavation
for the new church. The Chateau, com-
prising the chapel, was 210 by 170 feet,
and was constructed in the strongest
possible manner of stones which were

136 FRENCH CANADA.

gathered by the river bank. The build-
ing was two storeys in height all around,
and was flanked by four towers with
conical tops. There were high gables
over the building, and in the centre a
court. On the river-side front it was
loop-holed for defence, and it was here
that the retainers came in time of trouble.
On the west side was the chapel, which
was large and extensive.

After the fire it was never again occu-
pied, and later on the stone work
went to help make the present road-
way, as had been the fate of many an
Italian palace and temple of Greece.
The family gave the land where the pre-
sent church stands, and they also built
the first church, with vaults below. This
was done on condition that the family
should all be buried there, and so far this
has been carried out. The barony was
once very extensive, taking in a territory
of about one hundred and fifty square
miles, including St. Helen's Island, upon
which may still be recognized the ruins
of the residence which stood on the

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE. 137

eastern side of it, Capt. Grant and his
wife, Madame de Baronne de Longueuil,
having lived there for some time.

Fort Senneville, an interesting ruin, at
the western end of Montreal Island, and
which was destroyed by Benedict Arnold
at the invasion of Canada, during the
American Revolution, was erected by the
Le Ber family, which was closely allied to
that of LeMoyne, and was enobled at the
same time as the latter. The fort was
intended for a fortified fur-trading post.

In 1880 the seventh Baron claimed
royal recognition from the English
Crown of his title to the old French
Barony, which Queen Victoria was
graciously pleased to recognize. The
de Longueuil family was always gener-
ously treated by royalty, and on the
Richelieu river are several Seigniories
which have been granted to members of
it. On the same side of the river St.
Lawrence, but a considerable distance
inland, is the pretty town of Iberville.
It is named after LeMoyne d' Iberville, a
member of this family, who, with his

138 FRENCH CANADA.

seven brothers, took their several names
from their seigniories, and were all dis-
tinguished for daring and ambition in all
the perilous adventures of New France
in their day.

In the Indian village of Caughnawaga,
situated near the Lachine Rapids, is the
half-ruined Curial House, if it may be so
called, of the early historian, the Jesuit
Charlevoix. Like all French travellers

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE. 139

of that period, he had his visions of reach-
ing the Pacific coast, which, although
never realized, yet he was a celebrated
explorer and an accurate and painstaking
writer. His " Histoire Generate de la
Nouvelle France" is a valuable and
authentic history of the period it covers,
and is looked upon as one of the most
reliable authorities to-day.

In this thrifty hamlet, clustering around
the church, under whose steeple worship
the remnants of the once fierce and
dreaded Iroquis, are the last of their race.
They are adroit in the use of the canoe,
and for many years have acted as pilots
for the St. Lawrence steamers in the
perilous navigation of the Rapids. The
squaws are skilful in the bead work so
dear to the savage heart, and form
picturesque groups in blankets and
moccasins exposing their wares for sale
in the railway stations.

About ten years after the British occu-
pation, the Chateau de Ramezay fell
again into government hands, being
selected as the official residence. One of

140 FRENCH CANADA.

those who frequently crossed its thresh-
hold at this period was General Thomas
Gage, second in command under Sir
Jeffrey Amherst.

He was the first British Governor of
Montreal, and the last of Massachusetts,
and was remarkable for his doughty
deeds during the American Revolution.
And then in these rooms, where so often
had sparkled French wit and wine, high-
born English dames held sway, with the
grand manners and stately dances of
Queen Charlotte's Drawing Rooms at
Windsor Castle. These doors were
none too large for the extended skirts
and towering head-dresses, some of
which had satin cushions large enough
to have had the family coat of arms
painted on them, and yet had room to
spare. The ladies naturally followed the
fashions set by the Queen, who was ex-
ceedingly fond of display in dress, and
had an oriental love for gems. A des-
cription of one of her toilettes has come
down to us, which was almost barbaric in
its profusion of ornaments. At the first

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE.

142 FRENCH CANADA.

Drawing Room held after King George's
recovery from a dangerous illness, she
"fairly glittered in a blaze of diamonds.
Around her neck was a double row of
these gems, to which was suspended a
medallion. Across her shoulders were
festooned three rows of costly pearls, and
the portrait of the King was hung upon
the back of her skirt from five rows of
brilliants, producing a gorgeous effect.
The tippet was of fine lace, fastened with
the letter G. in diamonds of immense size
and value, and in Her Majesty's hair was
— ' God save the King/ in letters formed
of the same costly gems."

Under her sovereignty the guttural An-
glo-Saxon tongue was heard in the homes
and on the streets mingling with the melli-
fluent French, and the liturgy of West-
minster Abbey was solemnized side by
side with the ritual of St. Peter's in the
hush of Sabbaths, after the din and clamour
of war had ceased, and quiet once more
reigned in the grey old town.

As memorials of those days of strife,
carnage and conquest, some Canadian

CANADA UNDER ENGLISH RULE.

143

names have taken root in British soil. Gen.
James Murray chose the name of Beauport
for his country seat, and that of the Earls
of Amherst, among the hop gardens and
rose hedges of Kent, bears the name of
Montreal, Amherst having been created
Baron of Montreal.

AMERICAN INVASION.

N the year 1775, when the thirteen
American Colonies had risen in arms
against the Motherland, it was to be ex-
pected that they would desire to have the
assistance of those north of the forty-ninth
parallel. Being- so recently laid under
British allegiance, it was supposed there
would be much sympathy for the young
cause in the Canadian Colonies. But,
whether the treaty which had been made
had been considered gracious in its terms,
or that the horrible memories of war had
not had time to die away, or from a com-
bination of causes, the French-English pro-
vinces refused to take up the Colonial griev-
ances. To compel them to do this, an
expedition, consisting of Col. Ethan Allen
and his " Green Mountain Boys," was de-
tached against Montreal. Arriving on the
opposite bank of the river, just below the
town, with about one hundred and fifty men,
he crossed over from Longueuil and reached

AMERICAN INVASION. 145

the eastern suburbs at about ten o'clock
p.m., when he proceeded to billet his men
in private houses. That was before the
days of telephones, so it was some time
before the news reached the city and the
gates were closed. The rash project of
so small a force attempting to beleaguer a
walled town of fourteen thousand inhabi-
tants could have but one outcome, and it
resulted in the capture of Ethan Allen.
He was brought in through the Quebec
Gate, or Porle St. Martin, sent to Eng-
land and lodged in Pendennis Castle,
where he could hear the moan of the wide
sea that separated him from the land he
loved and longed to fight for.

But the expedition was not abandoned
on account of this repulse, for soon General
Montgomery appeared. Rattray describes
Montgomery as a brave officer of generous
and exemplary character. He was an
Irishman, a lieutenant in the 1 7th Foot, but
resigned his commission in the year 1772,
owing, it is said, to some grievance con-
nected with promotion ; when he settled
and married in the State of New York.

146 FRENCH CANADA.

Crossing the Canadian lines he captured
Forts St. Jean and Chambly, the latter a
stone fortress on the site of a post built by
Tracey's men, and thus he became pos-
sessed of ammunition and other military
stores of which he stood in need. The
French-Canadian Noblesse were the first to
offer to defend the country against the in-
vader, but Sir Guy Carleton, Commander-
in-Chief of the forces, being without suffi-
cient troops to successfully resist attack at
this point, determined to retire to Quebec
and make a resolute stand within its walls.
He therefore dismissed to their homes the
Canadians under arms, spiked the cannon
and burned the bateaux he could not use.
Three armed sloops were loaded with pro-
visions and baggage to be ready for emer-
gency. He felt it was a point of honour
to remain at Montreal as long as possible,
but it was of the utmost importance to the
cause that his person should not fall into
the hands of the enemy. He therefore
remained until news arrived that the
Americans had landed on a small island in
the river, a short distance above the city,

AMERICAN INVASION. 147

now called Nun's Island, and then hurried
arrangements were made for his departure.
As he left the Chateau, passing out of the
main entrance and down the path that led
to the river, he was followed by groups of
friends and citizens, whose sad counten-
ances evinced their forebodings of the
future. The historian Bouchette, whose
father was one of those in attendance on
the Commander, relates the incidents of
the perilous and momentous journey in
the following words : —

" It was through the intrepidity of a
party of Canadian boatmen that the Gov-
ernor of the country was enabled, after
escaping the most critical perils, to reach
the Capital of the Province, where his ar-
rival is well known to have prevented the
capitulation of Quebec and the surrender
of the country. In reverting to the history
of the Revolutionary contest, no event will
be found more strikingly illustrative of the
extraordinary chances of war than the
perilous, though fortunate, adventure of the
Commander-in-Chief of the army in Can-
ada, whose descent by water from Mon-

148 FRENCH CANADA.

treal to Quebec was effected with safety in
the very teeth of danger. The shores
of the St. Lawrence for upwards of
fifty miles below the city were possessed
by the enemy, who had constructed armed
rafts and floating batteries at the junction
of the Sorel with the St. Lawrence, to cut
off communication with the Capital. Upon
the successful issue of so hazardous an at-
tempt depended the preservation of Can-
ada, and the taking of General Carleton,
which appeared nearly certain, would have
rendered its fate inevitable ; but the happy
arrival of the Governor at Quebec at so
critical a juncture, and the well-advised
and active steps which he immediately
adopted; secured to Britain a footing in
that beautiful portion of America which
circumstances threatened to forever deny
her. A clandestine escape from the sur-
rounding enemy was the only alternative
left, and an experienced officer, distin-
guished for his intrepidity and courage, was
immediately sent for to concert measures
for the General's precipitate departure.
Captain Bouchette, the officer selected for

AMERICAN INVASION. 149

this purpose, then in command of an armed
vessel in the harbour, and who was styled
the ' wild pigeon ' on account of the
celerity of his movements, zealously as-
sumed the responsible duty assigned him,
suggesting at the same time the absolute
necessity of the General's disguise in the
costume of a Canadian peasant fisherman.
This was deemed prudent as increasing
the chances of escape, if, as seemed pro-
bable, they should fall in with the enemy,
whose gun-boats, chiefly captures, were
cruising in various parts of the river.

It was a dark and damp night in
November, a light skiff with muffled pad-
dles, manned by a few chosen men, pro-
visioned with three biscuits each, lay along-
side the waiting vessel." Under cover of
the night, the disguised Governor em-
barked, attended by an orderly sergeant,
and his devoted Aide-de-Camp, Charles
Terieu de la Perade, Sieur de Lanau-
diere, Seigneur de Ste. Anne, and a lineal
descendant of de Ramezay. The skiff
silently pushed off, the Captain frequently
communicating his orders in a precon-

150 FRENCH CANADA.

certed manner by silently touching the
shoulder or head of the man next to him,
who passed on the signal to the one near-
est, and so on. " Their perplexity in-
creased as they approached the Berthier
Islands, from the knowledge that the
enemy had taken up strong positions at
this point, especially in the islands which
commanded the channel on the south-
west of Lake St. Peter, which compelled
their adoption of the other to the north-
ward, although the alternative seemed
equally fraught with peril, as the Ameri-
can troops were encamped on the banks.
The most eminent danger they experi-
enced was passing through the ; Nar-
rows' at Berthier, the shores of which
were lined by American bivouacs, whose
blazing fires, reflecting far out on the sur-
face of the waters, obliged them to stoop,
cease paddling and allow themselves to
drift down with the current, imitating the
appearance of drifting timber frequently
seen in the St. Lawrence. So near did
they approach, that the Sentinel's exulting
shout of ' All's well ' occasionally broke

AMERICAN INVASION. 151

upon the awful stillness of the night. Their
perilous situation was increased by the
constant barking of dogs that seemed to
threaten them with discovery. It evi-
dently required the greatest prudence and
good fortune to escape the vigilance of an
enemy thus stationed. The descent was,
however, happily made by impelling the
skiff smoothly along the water, and pad-
dling with the hands for a distance of nine
miles. After ascertaining that the enemy
had not yet .occupied Three Rivers (a
point half way to Quebec), they repaired
thither to recruit from their fatigue, when
the whole party narrowly escaped being
made prisoners by a detachment of the
American Army which was then entering
the town. Overcome by exhaustion, the
General leaned over a table in an inner
room and fell asleep. The clang of arms
was presently heard in the outer passage,
and soon afterward American soldiers
filled the adjoining apartment to that in
which the General himself was, but his dis-
guise proved his preservation. Captain
Bouchette, with peculiar self-possession

152 FRENCH CANADA.

and affected listlessness, walked up to the
Governor, and with the greatest familiarity
beckoned him away, at the same time ap
prising him of the threatened danger.
Passing through the midst of the heedless
guards, and hastening to the beach, they
moved oft precipitately in the skiff and
reached unmolested the foot of the Riche-
lieu Rapids, where an armed brig was for-
tunately found lying at anchor, which on
their arrival immediately set sail with a
favouring breeze for Quebec.

Arrived at the Citadel, they proceeded
to the Chateau St. Louis, where the im-
portant services just rendered the country
were generously acknowledged."

It is remarkable that the man who
shared so largely in the risk involved in
this dramatic scene should have been a
Frenchman, Carleton's Aide-de-camp. Be-
tween him and his Chief a warm attach-
ment continued to exist until the end of
their lives, an uninterrupted correspon-
dence being kept up between this noble
soldier, Charles Terieu de Lanaudiere and
Lord Dorchester, after the latter with the

AMERICAN INVASION.

153

title bestowed upon him for his success on
this occasion had retired from active ser-
vice in the colonies. De Lanaudiere's career
was a remarkable one. He began with the

rank of Lieutenant in the Regiment de la
Sarre, and was wounded in the battle of Ste.
Foye, He was afterwards received with
royal favour by King George the Third,
being present at the state dinner when His

154

FRENCH CANADA.

Majesty with the dignity which he knew
how to assume when the occasion required,
rang for the carriage of his sometime
favourite, the fastidious Beau Brummel,who
had 'presumed on his august good nature
by undue familiarity.

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN
CANADA.

/^vN the Sunday following Sir Guy Carle-
ton's departure from Montreal, as the
people were proceeding to church, they
were thrown into a state of great alarm by
the tidings of the landing of Montgomery's
force on the Island of Montreal itself, at
the spot where now the great Victoria
Bridge springs from the shore, this densely-
packed manufacturing district being then
swamps and meadows. There was no
hope of attempting defence under the cir-
cumstances, so both French and English,
represented by an important committee of
the foremost inhabitants of the town, head-
ed by Col. Pierre Guy, entered into terms
with Montgomery respecting persons and
property. At nine o'clock in the morn-
ing, Nov. 13, 1775, the American troops
marched in through the same gate by which
Amherst had entered sixteen years before.
Just inside the walls was the most sump-

156 FRENCH CANADA.

tuous private dwelling in the city, called
the Chateau Fortier. Its walls were hung
with beautiful tapestries wrought in histori-
cal scenes, and its rooms were elegantly
furnished and elaborately wainscotted.
This old house still stands among the tall,
business blocks, strong yet as a fortress,
with high tin roof and deep windows and
doors. It is now used as a tavern, but
even this does not spoil the charm of its
unique exterior, which still remains un-
changed since the winter of 1775, when
Montgomery and his officers held their
mess here, and the descendants of the Puri-
tans changed the character of. the French
chateau, as Oliver Cromwell and his
" Roundheads/' a century before, altered
that of the English palace of Whitehall.

Little or nothing is known of what hap-
pened in Montreal during the autumn of
1775, when the Army of Congress held
possession of the town. There may, and
doubtless were, some sympathizers in the
city who frequented the Chateau Fortier?
but the loyalists avoided its vicinity as
much as policy permitted. The French

THE CONTINENTAL ARMJ IN CANADA. 157

and English ladies looked askance at the
American soldiers, and if a town, invested
by an enemy, indulged in any form'of mer-
riment, it is probable that no invitation was
ever addressed to General Montgomery
or Brigadier- General Wooster. In their
rounds of the town it may have been that
glimpses of home gatherings in the fire-
light may have given to these men of war
many a twinge of homesickness for hearths
across the border, where women who had
been clad in satin and brocade sat spin-
ning homespun, and were content to drink
spring water from the hills, while the tea
they had loved to sip in their Colonial
drawing-rooms was floating about the Bos-
ton beaches. If the Boys in blue and buff
encountered any of the Montreal maidens
in their walks by the river, or glanced at
them as they passed through the gates to
wander in the maple woods around, the
English girls passed them haughtily with
a cold disdain in their blue eyes, and the
French demoiselles flashed a fine scorn
from the depths of their dark orbs, which
wounded as keenly as a thrust of steel.
10

158 FRENCH CANADA.

Events followed each other so rapidly
across the line that Montgomery, tired of
inaction, resolved to carry out before the
year ended his cherished plan of making
an assault on Quebec, and proceeded to
join Arnold's men, who, half-famished and
in rags, had arrived outside that city's
walls.

Arnold, who was born at Norwich, Con-
necticut, Jan. 14, 1741, was, it is said, a
very handsome man, but his character was
a striking combination of contradictory
qualities, and his career marked by ex-
tremes. He was the bearer of a letter
from General Washington to the Canadians,
in which was written : " We have taken
up arms in defence of our liberty, our pro-
perty, our wives and our children. The
Grand American Congress has sent an
army into your province, not to plunder but
to protect you. To co-operate with this
design I have detached Col, Arnold into
your country, with a part of the Army
under my command. Come then, ye gen-
erous citizens, range yourselves under the
standard of general liberty, against which

THE CONTINENTAL ARM7 IN CANADA. 1 59

all the force of artifice and tyranny will
never be able to prevail."

Arnold with his two regiments, number-
ing together about eleven hundred men,
had left Boston in the month of
September, with the fixed intention of
penetrating the unbroken wilderness which
lay between the two cities. On the
twenty-second of the month he embarked
with his troops on the Kennebec River,
in two hundred batteaux, and notwithstand-
ing " all the natural impediments, the
ascent of the rapid streams, interrupted
by frequent portages, through thick woods
and swamps, in spite of accidents, the
desertion of one-third of their number,
difficulties and privations so great as on
one occasion to compel them to kill their
dogs for sustenance ; " after thirty- two
days of the perils of this wilderness
march they came in sight of the first
settlement near Quebec.

About a week later, when darkness
had fallen along the river shores and
lights twinkled from the little dwellings
of the lower town on the opposite bank,

160 FRENCH CANADA.

they embarked in canoes for a silent
passage across, and arrived early in the
morning at Wolfe's Cove, where, sixteen
years before, a similar landing had been
effected, with the same purpose in view
of assaulting the garrison in the seem-
ingly impregnable fortress. For weeks
the blockade was maintained, the Ameri-
can troops being established in every
house near the walls, more especially in
the vicinity of the Intendant's Palace,
which once had been gorgeous with the
prodigal luxury and magnificence for
which this old Chateau had been notori-
ous. The roughly-shod New England
soldiers tramped through the rooms and
up the noble staircases on which ladies
of fashion had glided when the infamous
Intendant Bigot had disgraced his King
and office by his profligacies. These
men, establishing themselves in the
cupola, found it an excellent vantage
point to fire upon and annoy the sen-
tries on guard.

On the 5th of December General
Montgomery arrived with his troops from

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 161

Montreal and joined Arnold. " They
sent a flag of truce to General Carleton,
who utterly disregarded it, declaring that
he would not have any communication
with rebels unless they came to claim the
King's mercy."

General Montgomery, realizing that it
was impossible to carry on a regular
siege, with neither the engineers nor
artillery requisite for the purpose, deter-
mined upon a night attack. This inten-
tion became known to the garrison, and
the most careful precautions were taken
against surprise. For several days those
on duty and in responsible positions
observed the strictest vigilance, even
sleeping in their clothes, with their arms
within reach, to be ready for the slightest
alarm. The report reached the garrison
that Montgomery had said that he would
dine within the walls on Christmas Day,
and he certainly seemed to consider him-
self sure of victory.

Arnold's communications to Carleton
has been treated with contempt, no parley
being entered into nor conditions con-

162 FRENCH CANADA.

sidered. Montgomery tried various ex-
pedients to have his messages received,
but without success, until an old woman
was found willing to carry them in. On
her errand becoming known, she was
arrested, imprisoned for a few hours and
then drummed out of the city, thus re-
ceiving the most disgraceful dismissal
possible in military discipline. The two
letters of which she was the bearer were
directed, one to Carleton and the other to
the citizens.

That to the Governor read :—
"I am at the head of troops accus-
tomed to success, confident of the right-
eousness of the cause they are engaged
in and inured to danger."

To the people his words were :—
" My friends and fellow subjects, 'tis
with the utmost compunction I find my-
self reduced to measures which may over-
whelm you with distress. The city in
flames at this severe season, a general
attack on your wretched works, defended
by a more wretched garrison, the confu-
sion, carnage and plunder which mus

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 163

be the consequence of such an attack, fill
me with horror ! Let me entreat you to
use your endeavours to procure my peace-
able admission. I have not the reproach
to make my own conscience that I have
not warned you of your danger."

Montgomery, waiting for a night of
unusual darkness, during which he hoped
to place his ladders against the barriers
unnoticed by the guards, found the 3ist
of December suited to his purpose. On
the last day of the year, when in Boston,
New York and other American towns,
family re-unions and festive gatherings
were taking place, as far as the disturbed
state of the country permitted, in a
blinding snow-storm, poorly-clad, but
resolute, these troops stood in line of
battle, waiting for the word of com-
mand through the dreary hours of that
night, in which ev^ry belfry in New
England was chiming out the dawn of
the New Year, which was to be the
greatest in the Republic's history — 1776
—the birth year of the nation.
At four o'clock in the morning two

164 FRENCH CANADA.

rockets glared redly to the sky, and were
immediately responded to by answering
signals, which were observed from the
ramparts. The solitary sentinel on St.
John's Bastion reported an armed body
of men approaching. It was a feint to
distract attention from the point where
Montgomery was to make the attack.

The tidings spread that the riflemen of
New England were at the gates ; the
peaceable denizens of the town were
startled withfthe cry of " To arms ! To
arms!" from officers hastening through
the streets. The pickets in the Recollet
Convent hurriedly gathered — the church
bells clanged out the alarm for the troops
to march at once to their posts, while
drums beat and muskets rattled.

" Ah ! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering tears and tremblings of distress,

And cheeks all pale — and whispering with white

lips,
' The foe ! They come, they come ! ' '

Lights glimmered from the frost-cov-
ered casements as fearful mothers tried to
still the cries of their children, frightened

THE CONTINENTAL ARM7 IN CANADA. 165

with the unusual clamour. Hands were
rung and tearful farewells taken of those
whose duty called them out, with no cer-
tainty of return, for

" Who could guess if ever more should meet those
mutual eyes ? "

Arnold's men rushed at the barricades
in Sault-au-Matelot St., with the words
" Victory or Death " stuck in their hats,
while Montgomery approached by a path
known as " Pres-de-Ville. " It was ex-
tremely narrow, and obstructed with
blocks of ice and snow-drifts. It was in
the neighbourhood of where now are the
wharves of the Allan Line Steamship Co.

In the narrowest part the Americans
marched slowly and cautiously. They
passed the outer barrier without resist-
ance and approached the inner, com-
manded by Dambourges. All was appar-
ently unwarned and silent, but it was not
deserted. Within was a masked battery
of only a few three-pounders, with a little
band of Canadians, eight British Militia
and nine seamen to work the guns.

166 FRENCH CANADA.

The force advanced to within thirty
yards, with Montgomery in front. Be-
side a gun, which pointed directly down
their path, Sergeant Hugh McQuarters
stood ready, the match in his hand
lighted to send the deadly missile at the
advancing column.

A quick movement — a flash — a dull
boom — and the fearless leader of the
assault fell dead, with twelve others, in-
cluding his secretary and aide-de-camp-
Arnold, his lieutenant, being wounded,
and thus ended the fifth and last siege of
Quebec.

It was well for Quebec that her gates
that night were not thrown open to the
sack of troops, among which was Aaron
Burr, who had accompanied Arnold's
command. These two men were pos-
sessed of less moral character than any
who were connected with the Revolu-
tionary struggle. Arnold was a strange
mixture of bravery and treachery, gen-
erosity and rapacity, courage and petty
spite. This arch-traitor subsequently
offered to sell West Point to the British

THE CONTINENTAL ARM7 IN CANADA. 167

for $30,000, then took service among his
country's foes, and returned to pillage
and ravage his former comrades. Aaron
Burr, though descended from generations
of clergymen, among whom was the
saintly and learned Jonathan Edwards,
was guilty of murder, treason, and every
other vice by which a man could become
notorious, his whole career leaving dis-
honour, blasting, misery and death, like
the trail of a venomous serpent, behind
him.

Governor Carleton, being desirous of
ascertaining the certainty of Mont-
gomery's fate, sent an aide-de-camp to
enquire if any of the American prisoners
would identify the body. A field officer,
who had commanded in Arnold's Divi-
sion, consented to perform the sad office.
He followed the aide-de-camp to the
Pres-de-Ville guard, and singled out from
among the other bodies his General's
remains, by the side of which lay his
sword, at the same time pronouncing with
the deepest emotion a glowing eulogium
of the worth and character of him who,

168

FRENCH CANADA.

frozen stiff and cold, had been found half
buried in his winding-sheet — a Canadian
snow-drift. Deeply impressed by the
scene and circumstances, Sir Guy Carle-
ton ordered that his late enemy be in-
terred in the foreign soil with the glory
of martial, burial honours. In the
Chateau Museum may be seen a sword
which was picked up in the morning after
Montgomery's repulse. It is in a good
state of preservation, much care evidently
having since been bestowed upon it.

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 169

" Of these five sieges, in the years
1629, 1690, 1759, 1760 and 1775, none
were pushed with more spirit and appar-
ent prospects of success than this block-
ade of the city by the two armies sent
by Congress in the autumn of 1775,
under the advice of the illustrious
General George Washington ; and, had
there been a governor less firm, less wise
and less conciliating than Sir Guy Carle-
ton, the Star-Spangled Banner would
now be floating from Cape Diamond.

Fort after fort, town after town, Ticon-
deroga, Crown Point, Saint John,
Chambly, Montreal, Sorel and Three
Rivers, had hoisted the white emblem of
surrender, but there still streamed to the
breeze the banner of St. George on the
Citadel. With the black flag of rebellion
over the suburbs and the American rifle-
men of undisputed courage and deter-
mination thundering at the gates, never
had a brave little garrison to contend
against greater odds, nor leader to accept
a more unequal contest, no help from
Britain being possible."

170 FRENCH CANADA.

" When news reached Congress that
the assault on Quebec had failed ; that
Montgomery had been left dead on the
snowy heights, and Arnold had been
borne from the field ; that cold, hunger
and small-pox were wasting the army,
and that discipline was forgotten, the
expedient was resorted to of appointing
commissioners to go to Montreal to con-
fer with Arnold, and arrange a plan for
the rectification of Canadian affairs."

They were received by General Arnold
in the most polite manner, conducted to
the Chateau de Ramezay, the head-
quarters of the Continental Army, where
a " genteel " company of ladies and gen-
tlemen had assembled to welcome them,
after which they supped with Arnold,
probably in the dining-room adjoining
the Salon.

In a vaulted cellar next to the subter-
ranean kitchens and dungeons, Benjamin
Franklin set up his printing press, the
first in the city, and with it issued mani-
festoes to the people, to try and induce
them to join in rebellion, and send dele-
gates to the Congress at Philadelphia.

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 171

The instructions given to Franklin and
the other members of the commission
directed them to extend to the Cana-
dians, " whom the Americans regarded
as brothers," the means of assuring their
own independence. They were also to
demonstrate to the people of Canada the
necessity of adopting decisive and prompt
measures for coming under the protec-
tion of the American confederation.

Through the doors of the Chateau
then entered Chase, Carroll, of Carroll-
town (who was expected to have in-
fluence with the French people, and
especially with the clergy), and others
great in the young American Common-
wealth's struggle for freedom. From
the antiquated ovens, doubtless the
brown bread and baked beans of New
England succeeded the roast beef of Old
England, and the entrees, fricassees and
pates of the French cuisine.

In the gloom of this chamber Franklin
no doubt uttered some of his wise say-
ings, gems of philosophy, which in his
" Poor Richard's Almanac " had for

172

FRENCH CANADA.

years been familiar in every chimney
corner of New England.

In the Montreal Gazette, which is still
in circulation, the present voluminous
and influential journalism of the Metro-
polis of the Dominion had here its
origin in the setting up of this old hand
printing-press, similar to if not the same
which is now preserved in the Patent

THE CONTINENTAL ARM7 IN CANADA. 173

Office at Washington. For it Franklin
sometimes made his own type and ink,
engraved the wood cuts, and even carried
in a wheelbarrow through the streets of
Philadelphia the white paper required for
the printing of his paper, the Pennsyl-
vania Gazette. It is now called the Sat-
urday Evening Post^ and has about it a
certain quaintness and originality sug-
gestive of the great mind which gave
such an impetus to the American and
Canadian press of over a century ago.

" For nearly one hundred and seventy
years there has been hardly a week, ex-
cept only when a British army held
Philadelphia, when this paper has not
been sent to press regularly.

His identification with the history of
letters in the United States and Canada
was an epoch in the development of both.
In the great army of newsboys in America
Franklin was the first ; he was also the
first editor of a monthly magazine in
the country, his having on its title page
the Prince of Wales' Feathers, with the
motto : ' Ich Dien.'
11

174 FRENCH CANADA.

" He has never been surpassed in the
editorial faculty, at the same time being*
apt as compositor, pressman, verse-
maker, compiler and reporter ; but as
adviser, satirist and humorist he was
perhaps at his best. His one and two
line bits of comment and wisdom were
models of pithiness, and few writers have
equalled him in masterly skill in argu-
ment. He is spoken of by David Hume
as the first great man of letters to whom
England was beholden to America."

In addition to these qualifications, he
founded the Library of Philadelphia,
the American post-office system, made
several valuable inventions for the im-
provement of heating, was the first to
call practical attention to ventilation, and
to attempt experiment with electricity.
" He founded the American Philosophical
Society, and led to the foundation of the
High School system in the State of
Pennsylvania, assisted in opening its
first hospital, and helped to defend the
city against an attack of Indians. He
was a leading factor in securing the

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 175

union and independence of the Colonies,
being- the principal mover in the repeal
of the Stamp Act." He made valuable
meteorological discoveries, improved na-
vigation, and was an earnest advocate
of the abolition of slavery ; so that in
sending Benjamin Franklin to Canada
at this critical juncture, she was com-
pelled to hold to her political convictions
against one of the intellectual giants of
the day. On discovering the patriotic
obstinacy of the Canadians, he wrote to
Congress, saying :—

" We are afraid that it will not be in
our power to render our country any
further service in this colony."

Perceiving the hopelessness of the situ-
ation, and that not even his matchless
logic could win sympathy in his project, he
left Montreal on May n, and thus ended
the efforts to coerce Canada into a strug-
gle which was to try so sorely the energy
and fortitude of the thirteen colonies —
efforts which had cost them the life of one
of their greatest generals — Richard Mont-
gomery.

176 FRENCH CANADA.

Franklin, when leaving, had under his
escort some ladies who were returning to
the United States. Of one of these he
wrote to Congress, saying : —

"We left Mrs. Walker and her hus-
band at Albany. They took such
liberties in taunting us at our conduct in
Canada that it came almost to a quarrel.
We parted civilly, but coldly. I think
they both have an excellent talent for
making enemies, and I believe where
they live they will never be long without
them ! "

Charles Carroll, who was associated
with Franklin in trying to obtain the
concurrence of the Canadians in revolt,
was of a family which had always stood
at the head of the colonial aristocracy,
and which had owned the most ample
estate in the country. His character
was mild and pleasing, his deportment
correct and faultless. By his eloquence
everyone was charmed, and many were
persuaded, but even his great and subtle
powers in argument were abortive here.
Through his daughter, Polly Carroll, he

TEE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 177

became associated afterwards with the
most dignified circles of the British aris-
tocracy. In the year 1809 two of his
grand-daughters were celebrated beauties
in the most exclusive social circles of
Washington and Baltimore. The eldest,
during a tour with her husband through
Europe, formed a warm friendship with
Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards the
great Duke of Wellington. On becom-
ing a widow and returning to London^
he introduced her to his elder brother,
the Marquis of Wellesley, whose wife
she subsequently became. Her younger
sister married Colonel Hervey, who acted
as aide-de-camp to the hero of Waterloo
on that momentous occasion. This
family, therefore, was closely identified
with that great struggle between the two
nations who had fought on Canadian soil
a few years before Carroll set foot upon
it.

During the first Presidential court,
many distinguished Frenchmen came to
America ; some in official capacities,
others from curiosity, and many were

178 FRENCH CANADA.

driven into forced or voluntary exile by
the French Revolution. Among these
were M. de Talleyrand, the exiled Bishop
of Autun, the Duke de Liancourt, the
Duke de la Rochefoucauld, Louis Phi-
lippe d'Orleans and his two brothers,
the Duke de Montpensier and the Count
de Beaujolais.

Louis Philippe lodged in a single room
over a barber's shop in Philadelphia.
On one occasion, when entertaining some
friends at dinner, he apologized with a
courtly grace for seating one-half his
guests on the side of a bed, saying he
had himself occupied less comfortable
places without the consolation of an
agreeable company.

The exiled Prince fell in love with the
beautiful Miss Bingham, the reigning
belle of the city. On her royal suitor's
asking her fair hand from her father, the
American citizen declined the alliance
with the French Prince, saying to him :—
" Should you ever be restored to your
hereditary position you will be too great
a match for her ; if not, she is too great
a match for you."

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 179

One year from the fall of Montgomery,
the event was celebrated by special re-
ligious services and social functions in
Quebec, the city he had never succeeded
in entering. " At nine o'clock grand
mass was celebrated by the Bishop in the
Cathedral. On this occasion those who
had shown sympathy with the Congress
troops had to perform public penance.
The officers of the garrison and the
militia, 'with the British inhabitants, met

180 FRENCH CANADA.

at 10 o'clock, waited upon Carleton, and
then proceeded to the English Church.
After the service a parade took place
when a feu de joie was fired. Carleton
himself gave a dinner to sixty people, and
a public fete was given at seven o'clock,
which ended with a ball."

About fifty years later, at Montgomery
Place, on the banks of the Hudson, an
aged face, with eyes dimmed with the
tears of long years of waiting, looked
sadly at the vessel that was bringing
back to her the dust of her young
soldier husband, which had so long
lain in the gorge, near the fatal bas-
tion. Forty-three years before, he had
buckled on his sword to fight for
what he considered a righteous cause, at
the command of his leader, Washington.
Expecting a speedy return, he marched
away as she listened to the drum beats
growing fainter and fainter in the dis-
tance, and, after half a century had
passed, he was still to her the young
soldier in his brave, blue coat, who had
kissed her for that long farewell. All

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 181

that is left on Canadian soil to recall this
gallant though luckless soldier is the
low-ceiled cottage where his body was
laid out, a small tablet on the precipice,
which reads, " Here Montgomery fell,
1775," and another of white marble, in
the courtyard of the military prison in
the Citadel, recently erected by two
patriotic American girls in memory of
the volunteers who fell with him.

One hundred New Year's Eves came
and passed away, and, on Dec. 3ist,

1875,

" There was a sound of revelry by night,

And Canada's Capital had gathered there
Her beauty and her chivalry, and bright

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave
men."

It was with no desire to re-kindle the
rancours and strifes of that distant period,
but to properly celebrate an event of
such importance, and commemorate that
night of blustering storm, gallant attack
and sore defeat a century before, that the
Centennial Montgomery Ball was given.
Soldiers and citizens, in the costumes of
1775, some in the identical dress worn

182 FRENCH C 'AH AD A.

by their ancestors in that memorable re-
pulse ; and the ladies in toilettes of the
same period, received their guests as they
entered the ball-room, the approaches to
which were tastefully decorated. uHalf
way between the dancing and receiving
rooms was a grand, double staircase, the
sides of which were draped with the
white and golden lilies of France, our
Dominion Ensign, and the Stars and
Stripes of the neighbouring Republic.
On the other side of the broad steps were
stacks of arms and warlike implements.
Facing the guests as they ascended the
stairs, among the huge banners which
fell gracefully about the dark musketry,
and parted to right and left above the
drums and trumpets, there hung from
the centre a red and black pennant — the
American colours of 1775. Immediately
underneath was the escutcheon of the
United States, on which, heavily craped,
was suspended the hero's sword — the
weapon by which, one hundred years
before, the dead, but honoured and
revered hero had beckoned on his men,

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 183

and which only left his hand when he
like 'a soldier fell.'

" Underneath the kindly tribute to the
dead General were the solemn prayerful
initials of Requiescat in Pace.

" At the foot of the trophy were piled
two sets of old flint-lock muskets and
accoutrements, and in the centre a brass
cannon, which was captured from the
Americans in 1775, and which bore the
' Lone Star ' and the figure of an Indian
— the Arms of the State of Massachu-
setts. This military tableau vividly re-
called the troublous times of long ago,
and spoke of the patience and pluck, the
bravery and sturdy manhood of a bygone
century.

" On the stroke of the hour of midnight,
the clear, clarion notes of a trumpet
thrilled all hearts present. A panel in
the wainscotting of the lower dancing-
room flew open as if by magic, and out
jumped a jaunty little trumpeter with a
slashed and decorated jacket and the
busby of a hussar. The blast he blew
rang in tingling echoes far and wide, and

184 FRENCH CANADA.

a second later the weird piping and
drumming of an unfamiliar music were
heard in a remote part of the barracks.

" Nearer and nearer every moment
came the sharp shrill notes of the fifes and
the quick detonation of the drum-stick
taps. The rattle of the drums came closer
and closer, when two folding-doors open-
ed, and through them stalked in grim
solemnity the ' Phantom Guard,' led by
the intrepid Sergeant Hugh McQuarters.

"Regardless of the festive decorations
and the bright faces around them, the
' Guard ' passed through the assembly
as if they were not. On through salon
and passage — past ball-room and conver-
sation parlor — they glided with measured
step, and halting in front of the ' Mont-
gomery Trophy,' paid military honours
to the memento of a hero's valiant, if un-
successful act. Upon their taking close
order, the Bombardier, who personated
the dead Sergeant, and who actually
wore the blood-stained sword-belt of a
man who was killed in the action com-
memorated, advanced and delivered an

THE CONTINENTAL ARMJ IN CANADA. 185

address to the Commander of the Quebec
Garrison, of which the concluding words
were :—

1 We ask of you to pay us now one tribute,
By firing from these heights one last salute/

" The grave, sonorous words of the
martial request were hardly uttered, ere
through the darkness of the night the
great cannon boomed, — a soldier's wel-
come and a brave man's requiem, — which
caused women's hearts to throb and men's
to beatexultingly." While the whole air
trembled with the sullen reverberations,
which echoed from crag to crag, the
glare of rockets lit up the path of Pres-
de-Ville, as the signal lights had done
one hundred winters before.

At the suggestion of the American
Consul, the old house on St. Louis
street, in which the body of Montgomery
was laid out January ist, 1776, was
decorated with the American flag, and
brilliantly illuminated, in honour of him
who had so nobly tried to do what he
considered his duty.

And thus the years of the century, as

186 FRENCH CANADA.

they rolled around, have in a great
measure smoothed away the animosities
which marked those days that tried men's
souls, when the sons of those who had
played around the same old English
hearths fought to the death for liberty or
loyalty. That the angry strifes are for-
gotten, leaving only the memory of the
bravery which distinguished the star
actors in the great drama, needs no fur-
ther proof than can be found on a green
hill near the Palisades, in the State of
New York, where one hundred and
twenty years ago a warm young heart,
beating beneath the soldier's red coat,
was stilled by American justice. The
granite shaft on the spot tells its sad and
sombre story :—

Here died, October 2nd, 1780,

Major John Andre", of the British Army, who, enter-
ing the American lines on a Secret Mission to
Benedict Arnold for the Surrender of
West Point, was taken prisoner,
tried and condemned

as a spy.

His death, though according to the stern code of

war, moved even his enemies to pity, and

both armies mourned the fate of

one so young and so brave.

In 1821 his remains were removed to

Westminster Abbey.

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 187

A hundred years after his execution this stone was
placed above the spot where he lay, by a citizen of
the States against which he fought ; not to per-
petuate a record of strife, but in token of those
better feelings which have since united
two nations, one in race, in lan-
guage and religion, with
the earnest hope that
this friendly union
will never be
broken.

" He was more unfortunate than criminal,
An accomplished man and a gallant officer."

— George Washington.

An American visitor to Quebec was
recently shown the cannon used in the
trophy, which the British Corporal
proudly explained had been taken at
Bunker Hill.

"Ah! yes, friend," the stranger re-
plied, " you have the cannon, but we
have the hill."

On the top of the monument, near
Boston, which marks the spot on which
this battle took place, are two guns simi-
lar to this one, the inscription on which
corroborates the soldier's statement ; it
reads : —

188 FRENCH CANADA.

" Sacred to Liberty."

This is one of the four cannon which con-
stituted the whole train of field
artillery possessed by
the British Col-
onies of
North America,
at the commencement of the

War

on the i Qth of April, 1775.

This cannon and its fellow belonged to

a number of citizens of

Boston.

The other two, the property of the Government
of Massachusetts, were taken by the enemy.

With the failure of the American ex-
pedition, and the return of the British
troops to Montreal, the Chateau again
became Government headquarters and
was called Government House.

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY IN CANADA. 189

When internal and international tran-
quillity were completely restored, and the
people were permitted to return to their
ordinary avocations of life, Sir Guy Car-
leton established himself at Quebec with
his wife, the Lady Maria, and their three
children, one of whom had been born in
Canada. She had joined him at Mon-
treal, being the bearer of the decoration
of the Order of the Bath, which she had
received from the hands of the King to
present to her husband. Sir Guy Carle-
ton or Lord Dorchester was one of those
men " who, during a long and varied
public life, lived so utterly irreproach-
ably, that his memory remains unstained
by the charge of any semblance of a
vice."

On the occasion of his last appearance
in an official character he arrived to make
his final inspection of the troops. After
general parade the officers waited upon
him to pay their last respects to one who
had been the bulwark of Canada through
her greatest vicissitudes. The leave-
taking of their old General, whom they
12

190

FRENCH CANADA.

never expected to see again, was marked
by the deepest feelings of regard and
regret. His connection with Canadian
history covered a period marked by
events of a nature the most critical, the
results of which will colour the entire
future of the Dominion.

Between the years eighteen thirty-
seven and forty, when Canada was torn
by internal rebellion, the Earl of Elgin,
who was then Governor-General, drove

THE CONTINENTAL ARM7 IN CANADA. 191

in hot haste to the Chateau, where had
sat the special council during the sus-
pension of the Constitution. After giv-
ing the Queen's sanction to what was
called by a certain party " The Rebel
Indemnity Bill," he rushed into one door
and out of another, when this Peer of the
Realm, in all the dignity of coach and
four, postillions and outriders, was pelted
with rotten eggs and other unpleasant
missiles. Then, in the dark of night, at
the instance of some so-called politicians,
the mob moved on to the Parliament
buildings, and, most unfortunately for
Montreal, deliberately set them on fire ;
which act resulted ultimately in the re-
moval of the seat of government to
Ottawa and the decline of the glory of
the old Chateau.

THE FUR KINGS.

IT was to the French explorers whose
names stand " conspicuous on the
pages of half-savage romance,"

and to

their successors the Scotch fur-kings, that
we owe much of the geographical know-
ledge of the northern part of the Con-
tinent. There is some uncertainty as to
who was the discoverer of the Mackenzie
River, which carries its waters to the ice-

William Alexander

THE FUR KINGS. 193

fields of Polar seas, but it bears the name
of one claimant to the distinction, Sir
Alexander Mackenzie.

Of the other waterways of the region
much valuable information was obtained
by Alexander Henry in his intercourse
with the native tribes. To Sir William
Alexander was given the honour of being
the first Scotchman to cross the Rocky
Mountains. Like his fellow countrymen,
he was distinguished by the same charac-
teristics which made their fathers in tar-
tan and kilt foemen " worthy of any
man's steel," and themselves fit succes-
sors of the bearers of such honourable
names as duLuth, Joliet and de La
Verandrye. A few rods from the gate of
the Chateau de Ramezay is a tall ware-
house which bears on its peaked gable
the date 1793. It was in this old build-
ing that the early business years of John
Jacob Astor, the New York millionaire,
were spent. It was the property of the
North-West Fur Company, which was
the centre of so much that was romantic
and captivating. This Company was an

194 FRENCH CANADA.

association of Scottish and Canadian mer-
chants, who, in the political changes which
had taken place, had supplanted those
purely French. In energy and enterprise
they did not exceed their predecessors,
but had more capital and influence at
their command.

In consequence of their more lavish
measures, they were called the " Lordly
Nor' Westers. Full justice has been done
them by the pen of Washington Irving,
who, in writing the tale of " Astoria," that
Northwestern " Utopia," so splendid in its
conception, but so lamentable in its failure,
became familiar with their life in all its
phases. He says : — " To behold the
North-West Company in all its grandeur
it was necessary to witness the annual
gathering at Fort William. On these
occasions might be seen the change since
the unceremonious time of the old French
traders, with their roystering coureurs des
bois and vcyageurs gaily returning from
their adventurous trading in the pathless
regions of the West. Then the aristo-
cratic character of the Briton, or rather

THE FUR KINGS. 195

the feudal spirit of the Highlander, shone
out magnificently. Every partner who
had charge of an inferior post felt like the
chieftain of a Highland clan. To him a
visit to the grand conference at Fort
William was a most important event, and
he repaired thither as to a meeting of
Parliament. The)r were wrapped in rich
furs, their huge canoes being freighted
with every luxury and convenience. The
partners at Montreal were the lords of
these occasions, as they ascended the
river, like sovereigns making a progress.
At Fort William an immense wooden
building was the council chamber and also
the banqueting hall, decorated with Indian
arms and accoutrements, and with trophies
of the fur trade. The great and mighty
councils alternated with feasts and
revels." These old days of primitive
bartering are gone forever from the St.
Lawrence, but to-day as it flows in
majesty to the ocean, carrying with it
one-third of the fresh water of the world,
it is a great highway for the commerce
of the globe.

196 FRENCH CANADA.

The University of McGill stands on
what was once, in part, the ancient vil-
lage of Hochelaga, which was visited by
Jacques Cartier, and was later the domain
belonging to old " Burnside Hall." Its
cheerful fire many a time shone out under
the shadow of Mount Royal, when were
gathered around its board Simon Mc-
Tavish, Duncan McGillivray, Sir John
Franklin and Joseph Frobisher. With
them was frequently seen Thomas
Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, who formulated
the scheme of populating the prairies of
the North- West with poverty-stricken and
down-trodden tenants from older lands,
many of whom lie in the old grave-yard of
the Kildonan settlement on the Red River
of the North, a few miles from the City
of Winnipeg. Their descendants with
their Scotch thrift form the backbone of
that progressive province of such magnifi-
cent possibilities. Their weary journeys
overland, toilsome portages and struggles
with want and isolation are now mere
matters of history, for the overflow popu-
lation of the crowded centres of Europe

THE FUR KINGS. 197

are carried in a few days from sea to
sea with every possible convenience and
even luxury. The great Canadian trans-
continental line has spanned the valleys
and crossed the mountains, literally open-
ing up a highway for the thousands who
from the ends of the earth are yearly
crowding into these vast fertile plains and
sub-arctic gold fields.

Franklin lies in an unknown grave
among Northern snows, lost in his
attempt, at the age of sixty, to find the
North Pole. He was last seen moored to
an iceberg in Baffin's Bay, apparently wait-
ing for a favourable opportunity to begin
work in what is known as the Middle Sea.
The problem of his fate long baffled dis-
covery, although many an earnest searching
party, in the Polar twilight, has sought him
in that region of ice and snow, in a silence
broken only by the howl of the arctic
blast, the scream of sea-fowl or the
thundering report of an ice-floe breaking
away from the mainland.

One party sent out by the Hudson Bay
Co. in 1853 found traces of the expedition

198

FRENCH CANADA.

in some bits of metal and a silver plate
engraved with the name Franklin. An-
other, fitted out partly by Lady Franklin,
and partly by public subscription, and
commanded by McClintock, afterwards
Sir Leopold McClintock, learned from an
Eskimo woman that she had heard of a
party of men, whom it was said "fell
down and died as they walked." With
the exception of these faint traces, their
fate is still wrapped in obscurity.

INTERESTING SITES.

T7JEW visitors to the city, as the Palace
P5 cars of the Canadian Pacific Railway
carry them into the mammoth station
on Dalhousie Square, realize the historic
associations which cling around this spot.
In the magnificently equipped dining-room
of the Company's Hotel, as delicacies
from the most distant parts of the earth
are laid before the traveller, he should call
to remembrance the lives of deprivation
and uncomplaining endurance which have
made the ground now crowned by the
beautiful edifice full of the most tragic
interest, and filled with memories which
will be immortal as long as courage and
stout-heartedness are honoured.

Two hundred and fifty years ago the
sound of hammer and saw here awoke the
echoes of the forest. Workmen who had
learned their craft in old French towns,
when Colbert, the great statesman and
financier, was developing the architecture

200 FRENCH CANADA.

and industries, revenues and resources of
the kingdom, here reared a wind-mill, the
first industrial building in Montreal.

The winds of those autumns long ago
turned the fans and ground the seed of
harvests toilsomely gathered from corn-
fields, among whose furrows many a time
the arrow and tomahawk spilt the blood
of reaper and sower. The old mill with
its pastoral associations of peaceful toil
in time passed away, and was succeeded
by a structure dedicated to the art of
war, for on the same spot stood la Cita-
delle* This stronghold, though primitive
in its appointments, was important during
the French occupation and evacuation of
New France, being the last fortification
held by French troops on Canadian soil.

This old earthen Citadel, a relic of
mediaeval defence, was, about seventy
years ago, removed, its material being
used in the leveling and enlargement of
the Parade Ground, or, as it is called, the
" Champ-de-Mars? Its demolition might
be regretted were it not that in an age
of progress even sentiment must give way

INTERESTING 8ITES. 201

before advance. The grand Hotel Viger,
although built to promote the comfort of
the people of the Dominion, has not
destroyed the pathetic interest of the early
struggles and heroism which still clothes
its site, and which heightens the present
appreciation of a civilization of which the
old mill and fort were the pioneers.

The hospitable hearth of James McGill,
graced by his noble-minded French-Cana-
dian wife, has also long since disappeared ;
but through his endowment, and the
prince-like gifts of William Molson, Peter
Redpath, Lord Strathcona and Mount
Royal, Sir Wm. Macdonald and many
others, the torch of education has been
lighted here, which shall shine a beacon
for ages to come. Although but three-
quarters of a century old, yet the Univer-
sity of McGill compares favourably with
older institutions, its Mining Building
being the most perfectly fitted up in the
world. Its sons take rank with the most
cultured minds in Europe and America,
influencing to a most marked degree the
educational thought of the day.

202 FRENCH CANADA.

The year 1896 marked an epoch in its
history, when a graduate of the class of
'68 was elected to the Presidency of the
British Medical Association, one of the
most august and learned corporations in
the world. In calling a Canadian. Dr. T.
G. Roddick, M.P., to this eminent posi-
tion, a signal honour was conferred, it
being the first time the office was held by
a Colonial member. Thirty-five years
ago. a French- Canadian youth, slight in
form, with broad brow and eyes full of
deep thoughtfulness, stood before the
Faculty and friends as the valedictorian
of his class. That slender boy is to-day
the great Canadian Premier, Sir Wilfrid
Laurier, the eloquent Statesman and the
honoured of Her Majesty the Queen.

FAMOUS NAMES.

/) ^ ^^
^

ONSPICUOUS among
the portraits of soldiers,
heroes and navigators
which adorn the walls
of the different rooms of
the Chateau, is one, a
faU s*ze painting of an
old Highland Chief, a
veritable Rhoderick Dhu, in Scotch bonnet
and dirk, who, with the call of his clan, and
the pipes playing the airs of his native
glen, led the charge of Bunker Hill. He
was Sir John Small, who came to Canada
with his regiment, the famous u Biack
Watch," and served under Abercrombie
in the battle of Carillon. One of his

204 FRENCH CANADA.

descendants, visiting Boston early in the
century, found on the walls of a museum,
and where it may still be seen, a paint-
ing of the battle of Bunker Hill with
General Small on his white horse, rally-
ing his men to the attack. It was to the
credit of the successors of those who
fought that day, although only thirty or
forty years had elapsed since their fore-
fathers had met in mortal combat, that the
most gentle courtesy and kindness were
shown on both sides by their descendants.

A fine picture of a full-blooded Indian
is that of Brant, the great Mohawk Chief,
an ally of the English and a cruel and
ruthless foe ; on one occasion having, it is
said, slain with his own hand, forty-four of
his enemies. Other portraits of Jacques
Cartier, Champlain, Vaudreuil, Montcalm,
deLevis, Dorchester, deSalaberry and
Murray are also there to be seen and
admired.

Many of the streets of Montreal, such
as Dorchester, Sherbrooke, Wolfe, d'You-
ville, Jacques Cartier, Guy, Amherst,
Murray, Vaudreuil, de Lagauchetiere,

FAMOUS NAMES.

205

Olier, Mance, Longueuil, and others
equally well named, will carry down to
future generations the memory of those
who were prominent in the making and
moulding of Canada. It is strange that
one of the most insignificant streets in the
city, a mere lane, of a single block in

British'Leader in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

13

206 FRENCH CANADA.

length, should bear the name of Bollard,
the hero of one of the most illustrious
deeds recorded in history, an event which
has rightly been called the Thermopylae
of Canada. The facts were as follows : —
In 1660 the Colony was on the eve of
extinction by the Iroquois, the whole of the
tribes being on the war-path with the in-
tention of sweeping the French from the
St. Lawrence. Dollard des Ormeaux and
sixteen young men of Montreal deter-
mined upon a deed which should teach the
savages a lesson. They bound them-
selves by an oath neither to give nor
take quarter. They made their wills and
took the sacrament in the Chapel of
the H6tel-DwUy and then started up Lake
St. Louis. They were not accustomed to
the management of the frail canoes of
bark, and day after day struggled to
pass the currents of St. Anne's, at the
head of the island, where now the pleasure
yacht spreads its white sails to the breezes
of summer, and on whose shores the
huntsmen and hounds gaily gallop when in
the woods of autumn the leaves turn

FAMOUS NAMES. 207

crimson and gold under the mellow
hunter's moon. At last, after a week had
been thus spent, they entered the Ottawa
River, proceeding by the shores until they
descried the remains of a rough palisaded
fort surrounded by a small clearing. It
was only a circle enclosed by trunks of
trees, but here they " made their fire and
slung their kettles. Being soon joined by
some friendly Hurons and Algonquins
they bivouacked together. Morning, noon
and night they prayed, and when at sun-
set the long reaches of forest on the
opposite shore basked peacefully in the
level rays, the rapids joined their hoarse
music to the notes of their evening hymn."
As their young voices floated through the
forest glades, and they lay down to sleep
under the stars of the sweet May skies, they
thought of the bells tinkling in the still air
of their loved ViUe-Marie^ where those they
had come to die for sent up for them Aves
around hearth and altar. In the words of
a Canadian poet, it is thus described : —

" Beside the dark Uttawa's stream, two hundred
years ago,

208 FRENCH CANADA.

A wondrous feat of arms was wrought, which

all the world should know.
'Tis hard to read with tearless eyes this
record of the past,

It stirs our blood, and fires our souls, as with
a clarion blast.

What, though beside the foaming flood un-
tombed their ashes lie, —

All earth becomes the monument of men who
nobly die.

Daulac, the Captain of the Fort, in manhood's
fiery prime

Hath sworn by some immortal deed to make
his name sublime,

And sixteen soldiers of the Cross, his com-
rades true and tried,

Have pledged their faith for life or death, all
kneeling side by side.

And this their oath, on flood or field, to chal-
lenge face to face

The ruthless hordes of Iroquois, — the scourges
of their race.

No quarter to accept nor grant, and loyal to
the grave.

To die like martyrs for the land they'd shed
their blood to save.

And now these self-devoted youths from
weeping friends have passed,

FAMOUS NAMES. 209

And on the Fort of Ville-Marie each fondly

looks his last.
Soft was the balmy air of spring in that fair

month of May,
The wild flowers bloomed, the spring birds

sang on many a budding spray,
When loud and high a thrilling cry dispelled

the magic charm,
And scouts came hurrying from the woods to

bid their comrades arm.
And bark canoes skimmed lightly down the

torrent of the Sault,
Manned by three hundred dusky forms, the

long-expected foe.
Eight days of varied horrors passed, what

boots it now to tell
How the pale tenants of the fort heroically

fell ?
Hunger and thirst and sleeplessness, Death's

ghastly aids, at length.
Marred and defaced their comely forms, and

quelled their giant strength.
The end draws nigh, — they yearn to die — one

glorious rally more
For the sake of Ville-Marie, and all will soon

be o'er.
Sure of the martyr's golden crown, they shrink

not from the Cross ;

210 FRENCH CANADA.

Life^yielded for the land they love, they scorn

to reckon loss.
The fort is fired, and through the flame, with

slippery, splashing tread,

The Redmen stumble to the camp o'er ram-
parts of the dead.
Then with set teeth and nostrils wide, Daulac,

the dauntless, stood,
And dealt his foes remorseless blows 'mid

blinding smoke and blood,
Till hacked and hewn, he reeled to earth, with

proud, unconquered glance,
Dead — but immortalized by death — Leonidas

of France;
True to their oath, his comrade knights no

quarter basely craved, —
So died the peerless twenty-two — so Canada

was saved.

The historian says : — " It was the en-
thusiasm of honour, the enthusiasm of
adventure and the enthusiasm of faith.
Daulac was the Casur-de-Lion among the
forests and savages of the New World."
The names and occupations of the young
men may still be read in the parish regis-
ters, the faded writing illumined by the
sanctity of martyrdom. The " Lays of

FAMOUS NAMES.

211

Rome" recount among her heroes none
of greater valour than these by the lonely
rapids in the silence of the Canadian
forest.

ECHOES FROM THE PAST.

\ I EAR a modern window in the gallery
(ej \ leans an old spinning-wheel, which
was found in the vaults. By its hum in
winter twilights, a hundred years ago, soft
lullabies were crooned, and fine linen spun
for dainty brides, over whose forgotten
graves the blossoms of a century of sum-
mers have fallen. In hoop and farthingale
they tripped over the threshold of the
old church of Notre Dame de Bonsecours.
They plighted their troth as happily be-
fore the altar of the little chapel, as do
their descendants in the stately church of
Notre Dame, with the grand organ pealing
through the dim arches and groined roof.

The old, old wheel is silent, and the
fingers that once held distaff and spindle
have crumbled into dust, but the noble
deeds and glorious names of those days
gone by are carven deep in the monu-
ment of a grateful country's memory.

Over an archway in the picture gallery

ECHOES FROM THE PAST. 213

is an enormous oil painting, dark with age,
of the British Coat of Arms, which, it is
whispered, was brought over hurriedly
from New York during the American
Revolution.

The museum of the Chateau is daily
receiving donations of interesting relics,
and has already a fine collection of coins,
medals, old swords and historical memen-
toes— some of the autograph letters of
Arnold, Champlain, Roberval, Vaudreuil,
Amherst, Carleton, the de Ramezay family
and many others, being of great interest.

These early days have passed away for-
ever. The whirr of the spinning-wheel,
or shout of the hunter, no longer sound
along the banks of the St. Lawrence. No
canoe of the painted warrior now glides
silently by the shore ; for Montreal with
its three thousand inhabitants when
Vaudreuil beat his retreat, to its present
population of 300,000, has thrown its
magnificent civilization around these spots
hallowed by the footprints of the great
men whose feet have walked her ancient
streets.

214 FRENCH CANADA.

" She has grown in her strength like a Northern

queen,
'Neath her crown of light and her robe of

snow,

And she stands in her beauty fair between
The Royal Mount and the river below.'''

The two nationalities live harmoni-
ously side by side in commercial and
social life, both retaining their racial and
distinctive characteristics. The old chan-
sons of Brittany are still heard from the
hay-carts and by the firesides, and up
and down the rivers ring out the same
songs as when the " fleet of swift
canoes came up all vocal with the songs
of voyageurs, whose cadence kept time
among the dipping paddles."

The Chateau de Ramezay has suffered
many changes and modifications in the
various hands through which it has
passed since its foundation stones were
laid, but the citizens of Montreal, rever-
ing its age and associations, are restor-
ing it as much as possible to its original
state and appearance ; and the thousands
who yearly pass through it testify to the

ECHOES FROM THE PAST. 215

romance surrounding the walls of the old
Chateau, Ville Marie's grandest relic of
an illustrious past — a past which be-
longs equally to both French and British
subjects, and which has developed a
patriotism well expressed in the words of
the eloquent churchman, Bruchesi, Arch-
bishop of Montreal, who says :—

" I know the countries so much
boasted of where the myrtles bloom,
where the birds are lighter on the wing,
and where gentler breezes blow. I have
passed quiet days on the beach at
Sorrento, where the Mediterranean rolls
its blue waves to the foot of the orange
tree. I have seen Genoa, the superb and
radiant Florence, and Venice, the Queen
of the Adriatic. More than once I have
gazed upon the beauty of Naples glitter-
ing with the fires of the setting sun. I
have sailed upon the azure waves of
the Lake of Geneva. I have tasted the
charm of our sweet France. My steps
have trodden the blessed soil of Rome,
and I have trembled with unspeakable
gladness. But all these noble sights, all

216 FRENCH CANADA.

these undying memories, all this sub-
blime poetry, all these enchantments of
nature did not take the place in my heart
of Canada, my Fatherland, which I have
never ceased to regard with enthusiasm
and admiration.

What nation can boast of a purer or
more glorious origin ? May the future
of Canada be worthy of its noble past.
May chanty, true charity, reign among
all our citizens as among the children
of the same mother. Let us have none
of those intestine divisions which en-
feeble us, — none of those unhappy jeal-
ousies capable of compromising the most
sacred interests."

Our fathers' battle-cries are hushed,

The ancient feuds are gone ;

Canadians now and brothers,

With God we're marching on.

With spears to ploughshares beaten,

The furrowed land is won.

Through bannered fields of waving corn

In peace we're marching on.

The North wind through the pine woods

Swells out our paean song,

ECHOES FROM THE PAST. 217

To the music of its harping
We bravely march along,
And join the trampling millions,
In chorus deep and strong.
To drum-beats of a nation's heart,
We proudly march along.
O, fair, blue skies, and mountain streams
Whose flashing sands run gold,
No standard but the Triple-Cross
Thy breezes shall unfold.
With roaring surge of circling seas
We shout our patriot song
For Home and Queen and Canada,
With God we're marching on.
On, marching on, while brave the colours float
From sea to sea, with cheer and song,
This watchword pass the ranks along,
Our Land is marching on !

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